Russia's Former Deputy Prime Minister Urges Obama To Strengthen Ties With Russian President

By Celia Canon-Talk Radio News Service

Boris Nemstov, Russia's former Deputy Prime Minister, believes that the global financial crisis is forcing changes in Russia's balance of power. Consequently, Nemstov urged President Barack Obama during a discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Center on Thursday to focus more attention on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in order to achieve a stronger democracy.

“[For a ] transformation from an authoritarian to a democratic regime, the best way is to give a chance to Medvedev to be a real president,” since, as Nestov explained, Medvedev is in charge of foreign affairs while former President and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes care of domestic concerns.

Nemstov stressed that “Putinism is disastrous for Russia...Obama plays by Putin's rules which [are] crazy, its unconstitutional.”

Discord between the two countries has presented a challenge to the U.S. in the past few of years following Russia’s desire to expand in the Arctic, however the U.S has recently extended a hand to Russia in order to enforce sanctions against North Korea for their missile tests.