Putin, Medvedev to reach agreement ahead of 2012 polls

September 15th, 2009 Reports: Medvedev wants to meet US 'dissidents'MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he would like to meet with "dissidents" when he visits the U.S. next week. Russian news agencies quote him as telling a group of visiting foreign experts that "I believe there are dissidents in the United States." ITAR-Tass quotes him as saying: "Let them tell me what problems the United States has.

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 15th, 2009 Medvedev not ruling out run in 2012 electionsMOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday he hasn't ruled out running for a second term, Russian news agencies reported — adding new intrigue to the question of who will assume the presidency in 2012. Medvedev's comments, made to a group of Western experts on Russia, came just days after his mentor and current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, indicated he was also interested in returning to the post, an announcement that sparked speculation about the possibility of behind-the-scenes Kremlin jockeying.

September 12th, 2009 LONDON - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is strongly considering to become President again and swap places with present incumbent Dimitri Medvedev, which will allow the former KGB spy to remain in power till 2024. Putin insisted that swapping places with Medvedev was no more sinister than the Labour leadership agreement in which Gordon Brown took Tony Blair's job.

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 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 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 6th, 2009 Obama trusts Medvedev to follow throughMOSCOW — President Barack Obama says he trusts Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) to follow through on the agreements the two leaders have announced at their summit in Moscow. The agreements include a preliminary deal to reduce both nations' stockpiles of nuclear warheads.

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.

June 1st, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia is ready to buy $10 billion worth of bonds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. Putin said the money would be used to help countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

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.

January 15th, 2009 Novo-OGARYOVO - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has proposed to the European Union (EU) to set up a consortium to buy from its energy giant Gazprom the amount of gas that Ukraine says is necessary to resume transit to Europe. 'We are proposing that our European partners share the risks and set up an international consortium that could buy from Gazprom the necessary amount of gas and immediately send it to Ukraine to secure gas transit to Europe,' Putin said Thursday.

January 11th, 2009 MOSCOW/PRAGUE/BRUSSELS - Ukraine has agreed to sign a fresh accord for monitors to measure gas flow to Europe, minus the declaration that led Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to rescind the agreement, the European Commission said Monday. The move follows phone calls by commission president Jose Barroso to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Timoshenko late Sunday night.