Cold war: Russian PM Medvedev says new cold war is on

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said strains between Russia and the West have pushed the world "into a new cold war".

"On an almost daily basis, we are being described the worst threat - be it to Nato as a whole, or to Europe, America or other countries," Mr Medvedev said.

He cited Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg's speeches and films depicting Russia starting a nuclear war.
"Sometimes I wonder if this is 2016 or 1962," Mr Medvedev said.

The Cold War was a period of ideological confrontation between the former Soviet Union and Western countries. It began after World War Two and ended with the collapse of the Soviet-led communist camp in the 1989.

The 45 years of tension were marked by espionage and proxy wars involving client states - all undertaken with the knowledge or fear of the nuclear catastrophe that actual war would bring.
The Nato alliance was established in 1949 to protect Western countries.

Read more: Russian PM Medvedev says new cold war is on - BBC News

Russia-US relations reset ‘impossible’: PM Medvedev - by Geoff Cutmore and Antonia Matthews

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told CNBC that a "reset" of relations with the United States is "impossible" and that ties between the two powers had been damaged by "destructive" and "stupid" sanctions imposed on the country in response for its role in the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

In an exclusive interview that aired Wednesday, Medvedev said any suggestion of a "reset," as suggested by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in September was out of the question.

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told CNBC that the world must move away from its dependence on the U.S. dollar, arguing that the global economy would benefit from a more diversified currency system.

In this exclusive interview that aired Wednesday, Medvedev said he did not have a "special negative attitude" toward the dollar— the global reserve currency—but said a "much more just financial system" was possible.

"We have nothing against the dollar, but we believe that today's currency system should be more balanced," he said in the interview Tuesday.

He called for a greater number of major reserve currencies, which are held as foreign exchange reserves by the world's central banks and are used in international trade.

Read more: Russia-US relations reset ‘impossible’: PM Medvedev

Russia: Medvedev back as PM to complete Russia job swap - by Shaun Walker

The job swap within Russia's ruling "tandem" was completed yesterday, as Dmitry Medvedev became Prime Minister, a day after Vladimir Putin switched from that job to return to the presidency.

As Mr Medvedev was voted in by the Duma, a small group of hardcore activists attempted to continue a sit-in protest against Mr Putin's return.

Mr Medvedev's ratification as prime minister was never in doubt, as the Russian parliament is dominated by Kremlin loyalists, and both leaders gave long speeches to the assembled MPs.

Read more: Medvedev back as PM to complete Russia job swap - Europe - World - The Independent

Russian TV pokes fun at ruling tandem in New Year cartoon

Russia’s state television poked gentle fun at its ruling duo of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, in a New Year cartoon of them dancing and singing on Red Square.

Amid fizzing speculation about which of the men will run for the Kremlin in presidential elections in 2012, the cartoon showed the two singing a duet with Medvedev playing the accordion and Putin the tambourine.

The sketch, shown on Channel One’s New Year gala show overnight, was essentially a sequel to a similar cartoon shown on the same day last year that was seen as a rare moment of satire on Russia’s tightly controlled television.

For more: Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - Russian TV pokes fun at ruling tandem in New Year cartoon

The Moscow Times: The New Kremlin Dreamers - by Michael Bohm

For the complete report from the Moscow Times click on this link

The New Kremlin Dreamers - by Michael Bohm

Several weeks ago in Voronezh, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said the ambitious goals for "Strategy 2020" remain in place despite the economic crisis. He also said Russia has every chance of becoming the world's most desirable place to live by 2020. "This is no fairy tale," Shuvalov added, but if you examine the strategy closely, it certainly looks like one.

The most important ranking is not mentioned in Strategy 2020 at all -- the Transparency International's corruption index, in which Russia ranks 147 out of 180 countries in 2008. Corruption is particularly onerous for Russia's struggling small and medium-size businesses, which make up only 10 percent to 15 percent of the country's GDP. In the United States, small and medium-size businesses are the engine of economic growth, comprising roughly 50 percent of the country's private GDP and creating about two-thirds of net new jobs annually.

As long as Russian bureaucrats (and competitors) are free to terrorize businesses by creating "administrative barriers," extorting bribes and raiding, economic growth in the real sector will always be insignificant. To his credit, President Dmitry Medvedev is backing a new law to assist small businesses, which will, among other things, limit the number of government inspections of businesses. Most likely, however, these limitations will be easily sidestepped when bureaucrats simply extort a larger amount of money per inspection.

Swissinfo.ch: Russia's Medvedev takes power - by Michael Stott and Oleg Shchedrov

Dmitry Medvedev after taking the oath of office as the new President of Russia in a solemn, emotional ceremony in the Kremlin's glittering St Andrew's Hall

For the complete report by swissinfo click on this link

Russia's Medvedev takes power - by Michael Stott and Oleg Shchedrov

Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russian president on Wednesday and just over two hours later nominated his predecessor Vladimir Putin as prime minister, ushering in an unprecedented period of dual rule. Medvedev, a 42-year-old former corporate lawyer and longtime Putin ally, stressed freedom and the rule of law in his first remarks after taking the oath of office in a solemn, emotional ceremony in the Kremlin's glittering St Andrew's Hall. "I believe my most important aims will be to protect civil and economic freedoms," he told guests at the inauguration, broadcast live on state television. "We must fight for a true respect of the law and overcome legal nihilism, which seriously hampers modern development."Shortly afterwards, the government led by Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov followed protocol by resigning. This cleared the way for Medvedev to nominate Putin as prime minister as the carefully choreographed transition unfolded. The new leader, who arrived at the Kremlin alone in an armored black stretch Mercedes limousine flanked by 11 motorcycle outriders, inherits a booming economy fueled by high oil prices -- and a sobering set of challenges. They include rampant corruption, rising inflation, a falling population, sickly industry and agriculture and increasingly tense relations with former Soviet neighbors and the West.