However, getting a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is not as difficult as you might think - provided you have the right friends.
It is still unclear who nominated Obama - this information is kept secret for at least 50 years after the prize has been awarded.
Putin, a former KGB agent, has had his name put forward by a Russian advocacy group called The International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation of Peoples of the World.
They have cited his efforts to prevent a US military strike on Syria following a chemical weapons attack.
They do not mention his country’s continued role in supplying weapons to Syria and his leadership in the Russian military campaigns in Georgia in 2008 and against separatists in Chechnya.
So what does it take to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?
Have friends in high places
The Norwegian Nobel Committee accepts nominations from a range of individuals.
The first of the categories are members of parliaments or national assemblies, or members of governments of states.
Judges and other senior members of international courts can also submit nominations.
Be known in academic circles
The statutes of the Nobel Foundation also say it will accept nominations from university rectors, professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology.
It is unclear exactly what the Foundation defines as a university but it is unlikely they would accept nominations from staff at unaccredited universities like the Isles International University.
Directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes can also submit nominations.
Past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize can also nominate future winners. Clearly an endorsement from a previous winner should also carry some clout.