Forcefully rebuffing suggestions that Russia's de facto one party political system had outlived its usefulness, he said he accepted there had to be changes but made it clear they would be evolutionary not revolutionary.
"Listen, take any country," he told a group of international academics and journalists who had flown into Moscow to meet him in the restaurant of an upmarket horse-riding club.
"(Silvio) Berlusconi is stepping down in Italy for example. (But) are there many politicians in Italy of his stature? Name me one," he demanded, after delivering a eulogy to his "great friend."
The outgoing Italian prime minister's image as a womaniser was a deliberate ploy to attract attention, he suggested, praising him for having brought years of political stability to Italy.
Arguing it would be hard for Italy to fill Mr Berlusconi's shoes, he said the dearth of talented leaders extended to America too.
"Or take the United States, there will be elections there soon. But the Republicans are winning, well they could win, but they have not got a leader! Where are they? The whole American system needs changing." Read on and comment » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Saturday, November 12, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dmitry Medvedev' social networking page bombarded by offensive 'presents': Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been forced to hide part of his profile on Russia's biggest social networking site after he was inundated with hundreds of insulting virtual 'presents.' ¶ Mr Medvedev, who has announced he will stand down from the presidency next year in favour of Vladimir Putin, opened an account on VKontakte, Russia's equivalent to Facebook, earlier this month. ¶ An active blogger and iPad owner, the aim was to reinforce his self-styled image as a tech-savvy political moderniser and to restore his credibility which was damaged by his decision to hand the Kremlin keys back to Mr Putin, his long-time mentor. » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Friday, November 11, 2011
