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Heir Not Just Putin's Puppet

Medvedev favors Western style and outlook

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 28, 2008 3:16 AM CST
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(Newser) – The man hand picked by Vladimir Putin to be his successor and a virtually certain victor in this Sunday's election has been portrayed in the West as the Russian president's personal puppet. But Dmitri Medvedev, who plans to appoint Putin as his prime minister, may be more independent, reform-minded and Western-oriented than some observers have suggested, reports the New York Times.

“He’s more Western in his attitudes than any of the other candidates out there,” said a Stanford University analyst. “Having said that, he is weak.” To assess who will wield true Kremlin power, analysts will be watching whether Putin, Medvedev or both go to a G8 meeting in Japan this summer.

President Vladimir Putin's likely successor Dmitry Medvedev holds a Kalashnikov gun as he visits a plant manufacturing Kalashnikovs assault rifles and other fire-arms in the central Russian city of Izhevsk, about 1000 kilometers (625 miles) east of Moscow, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)
President Vladimir Putin's likely successor Dmitry Medvedev holds a Kalashnikov gun as he visits a plant manufacturing Kalashnikovs assault rifles and other fire-arms in the central Russian city of Izhevsk,...   (Associated Press)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and his likely successor, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and his likely successor, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)   (Associated Press)
Russian President Vladimir Putin walks in front of giant advertising poster depicting him and his likely successor Dmitry Medvedev for upcoming presidential elections while he attends a wreath laying ceremony to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Kremlin, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008....
Russian President Vladimir Putin walks in front of giant advertising poster depicting him and his likely successor Dmitry Medvedev for upcoming presidential elections while he attends a wreath laying...   (Associated Press)
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Putin's Puppet

Medvedev reveals little except loyalty
Wall Street Journal

The Face: Dmitri Medvedev
Times (UK)

 
Russia • Vladimir Putin • Kremlin • Gazprom • Dmitry Medvedev • loyalist • Michael A. McFaul • Sergei Markov • Gennadi A. Zyuganov • Andrei V. Bogdanov • Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky • Institution for Globalization Studies and Social Movements

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