Obama trusts Medvedev; looks ahead to meeting with Putin

September 15th, 2009 Medvedev not ruling out run in 2012MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he hasn't ruled out running for a second term in 2012. Questions about whether he will run have swirled since his predecessor and mentor Vladimir Putin indicated last week that he was also interested in running for another term.

September 14th, 2009 Medvedev: countries must accept criticismYAROSLAVL, Russia — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday that all countries must be willing to accept the criticism of others, a policy that would be a distinct break from the prickly defensiveness of his predecessor Vladimir Putin. Medvedev, prone to generalities and implications rather than outright statements, did not mention any countries by name in his speech to an international security conference.

September 11th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday that he and President Dmitry Medvedev would come to an agreement before the 2012 presidential polls and would not compete with each other. "There will be no competition.

July 20th, 2009 Russia eases restrictions on rights groups, NGOsMOSCOW — The Kremlin says President Dmitry Medvedev has signed legislation easing restrictions on human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations. The legislation is one of the few palpable signs of change in the Kremlin's treatment of independent organizations since Medvedev succeeded Vladimir Putin as president last year.

July 7th, 2009 Obama has busy schedule in Moscow on TuesdayMOSCOW — President Barack Obama's busy Tuesday in Russia includes a session with the man some say is the still the real power in Moscow. Obama and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will have a working breakfast at Putin's dacha.

July 7th, 2009 Putin says Obama meeting went wellMOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says his first meeting with President Barack Obama went "very well." The former Russian president called the two-hour meeting "substantive, informative and collaborative." Putin told reporters he and Obama "covered the issues from previous years" and found "many positives" and "many points in common." Obama also had good things to say about their meeting Tuesday, and said he found Putin's views similar to those of Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev. Before heading to Russia, Obama had described Putin as still having a confrontational Cold War mentality, while the younger Medvedev seemed to understand that it was time for a new approach to U.S.-Russia relations.

July 7th, 2009 Official: Obama, Putin established 'good relation'MOSCOW — A White House official says President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "formed the basis of a good relation" during a two-hour meeting at Putin's residence outside Moscow. Before heading to Russia last week, Obama told the Associated Press in an interview that Putin "has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." But after meeting the Russian leader, a senior administration official described Obama's reaction this way: "I would say he's very convinced that the prime minister is a man of today and he's got his eyes firmly on the future." The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private details of the meeting, said Obama and Putin shared concerns about terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

July 7th, 2009 Putin loses nothing in Russia-US summitMOSCOW — Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev can both claim success at a summit meant to put badly strained ties on track, but a third figure also seems to have emerged a winner: Vladimir Putin. The Russian prime minister played a supporting role, limited mainly to a two-hour breakfast meeting with Obama on a suburban Moscow porch Tuesday.

July 7th, 2009 MOSCOW - US President Barack Obama began his first meeting with Vladimir Putin Tuesday morning at the Russian prime minister's country residence outside Moscow. Obama, on his first visit to Russia since becoming president, held extensive talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Monday, resulting in a framework agreement for a new strategic arms reduction treaty.

July 3rd, 2009 Putin responds to Obama's criticismMOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the U.S. president is wrong to suggest he remains mired in a Cold War mindset.

July 3rd, 2009 Spokesman: Obama wrong about Russian premier PutinMOSCOW — President Barack Obama was wrong to suggest Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remains partially mired in a Cold War mindset and is sure to change his opinion when they meet next week in Moscow, Putin's spokesman said Friday. Obama said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that Putin needs to understand "that the old Cold War approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated, that it's time to move forward in a different direction." Obama said he believes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "understands that," but Putin "has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." Obama makes his first trip as U.S.

July 2nd, 2009 Court 'moved ball' on racial hiring, Obama saysWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Thursday the Supreme Court was "moving the ball" on affirmative action in this week's decision favoring white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., but he added that the court had not ruled out the use of racial preferences in the future. In a White House interview with The Associated Press, the president also said, "I don't think that hiring on the basis of race ...

July 2nd, 2009 Obama interview: Too many jobs lostWASHINGTON — With joblessness rising, President Barack Obama said Thursday he was "deeply concerned" about unemployment and conceded that too many families are worried about "whether they will be next" to suffer economically. In a White House interview with The Associated Press, Obama said that since he took office, "we have successfully stabilized the financial markets," and "started to see some stabilization on housing." "But what we are still seeing is too many jobs lost," said Obama, commenting after new government figures showed the unemployment rate had risen to 9.5 percent last month.

July 2nd, 2009 Obama says Putin lives partly in pastWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is describing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." He says one reason he's meeting with Putin — as well as with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) — during his upcoming visit to Moscow is that he wants Putin to know that "the old Cold War approaches" to relations with the United States are "outdated." Obama says Putin "still has sway" in Russia. He also says the U.S.

May 11th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has hinted that he wants to comeback as president of the country in 2012. Putin said there was no decision as yet on whether he or his close ally Dmitry Medevedev, the current president, would run for office when Medvedev's four-year-stint in the job expires.