Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he would like to seek a second term but it's "hard to imagine" that he would run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the 2012 presidential race.

He made the remarks in an interview published by the Financial Times newspaper on Monday.

"Vladimir Putin and myself --and Putin is my colleague and an old friend --represent, to a large extent, one and the same political force. And therefore competition between us may be detrimental to our tasks and goals," Medvedev said, stressing that a race between them would not be the best scenario for the country.

The president said he has no major differences with Putin and the speculation about "growing gap" between them was wrong.

Nevertheless, he made clear that he desired for a second term, saying "any leader who occupies a post such as president simply must want to run."