Word: medvedevs
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...December, Vladimir Putin settled Russia's succession question by declaring his support for Dmitri Medvedev, a deputy prime minister and former Putin chief of staff. Soon after, while I and other TIME editors were in Moscow preparing to interview Putin as TIME's Person of the Year, Medvedev returned the favor and announced that he would in turn endorse Putin as Russia's next Prime Minister. A top Kremlin aide told us the news with great excitement. When we dryly suggested that Putin may possibly have had a hand in Medvedev's decision, even this Kremlin loyalist had to laugh...
...chill in relations between the U.S. and Russia, which is making it difficult for the U.N. Security Council to meet 21st century collective-security challenges. Putin has used the Kosovo standoff as yet another excuse to flaunt his petro-powered invincibility, sending his likely successor, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, to Belgrade to sign a gas agreement. If a firm international response is to be mobilized toward Iran, Sudan or other trouble spots in the coming years, the U.S. will have to find a way to persuade Russia to become a partner rather than a rival in improving collective security...
...quite proper to release this movie at last. That may be true. But Voropayev may well figure that it can't hurt to send Russians a timely reminder of who will really remain in charge of the country after next month, when Putin's hand-picked heir, Dmitri Medvedev, becomes the figurehead President. After all, as Platov says to Tatyana: "Should I just sell sunflower seeds when the highest job in this country presents itself?" It is of course no secret that Platov's prototype, who says he'll take up the post of Prime Minister, isn't going...
Some are likely to be easy meat. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rushed to endorse his candidacy. When will Germany's politicians learn that such bursts of enthusiasm fail to win cheaper imports of energy? It was also at Davos that Medvedev stated: "There will no longer be any free gas for anyone." If and when he becomes Russian President, Medvedev will shake hands warmly with President Bush. It would be ill-advised for Washington, however, to believe Russia's perceptions of its foreign-policy interests will change regarding Kosovo, Iran or the U.S.-proposed "nuclear shield" installations in Poland...
This is not to suggest that Putin has any intention of simply fading away: he clearly intends to watch over the doings of his protégé Medvedev. For the moment, there is rightly a sense of relief that Putin has not anointed yet another former member of the FSB to become President. The Russian stock exchange has applauded. The Russian Orthodox Patriarch has pitched in his blessing. Russian newspapers have exulted. Unfortunately, the basic reality of Russia's politics is likely to remain as unmeltable as Siberian permafrost...