The country has just concluded hosting this year's event, which concluded in Kolomna on Sunday (February 14), and also held the event in Sochi in 2013, the year before the city held the Winter Olympics.

Alex Kravtsov, the President of the Russian Union of Speed Skaters, has masterminded a strategy to bid for events and sports minister Vitaly Mutko had made encouraging noises.

"We have not yet discussed it," Mutko told TASS.

"But what Kolomna has demonstrated - perfect organisation, high attendance - is good.

"Kolomna can host competitions of any level.

"Apart from that, we have Moscow and Chelyabinsk."

Russia enjoyed success on home ice in Kolomna, where they won six medals including three golds.

The titles came courtesy of Pavel Kulizhnikov, who triumphed in the men's 500 metres and 1,000m, and 1,500m champion Denis Yuskov.

Russia's willingness to bid comes despite the allegations of state-sponsored doping which have rocked the country's athletics programme, and suspicions that other sports may also have been impacted.

Kulizhnikov has already served a two year doping ban during his career, between 2012 and 2014, despite only being 21.

At the 2012 World Junior Championships in Obihiro, Japan, then 17-year Kulizhnikov won gold in the 1,000m and bronze in the 500m but was later disqualified after testing positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine.

He claimed that he had ingested the drug in a nasal spray for colds with his ban meaning he missed Sochi 2014. 

Gangneung in South Korea will hold the 2017 World Single Distances Championships.

It is a similar situation to what happened with Sochi, as the city will stage skating at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics a year later.