Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize by a Russian advocacy group for his key role in preventing a US missile strike on Syria and initiatives to dismantle Damascus' chemical weapons. Underling Putin's active participation in the search for a political and diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis, the International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation among the Nations of the World said those efforts made him deserving of the Nobel Prize, media reports said.An official letter containing the request was sent to the Nobel Prize Committee on September 16 and was received on September 20, reports said.

US President Barack Obama had received the Nobel Peace Prize in his first year in office in 2009 for his "extraordinary efforts" to strengthen international diplomacy. Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told the Itar-Tass news agency that the administration did not discuss his nomination with the Academy. "The main criterion for the president is his satisfaction from the results of his work," Peskov was quoted as saying by the Russian media. Putin has already been proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize by the president of the All-Russian Education Fund.