Russia Profile Experts Panel: Has Medvedev Become a Lame Duck?Introduced by Vladimir FrolovRussia Profile05/27/2011
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has been savaged by the Russian and Western media for breaking little new ground and failing to announce his presidential bid during a lackluster press-conference last week. It is true that the event was overhyped by the Kremlin’s press service which sought, strangely enough, to fuel all sorts of wild expectations for the conference, from a presidential bid announcement to the possible firing of Vladimir Putin. Are such harsh assessments justified? Was Medvedev’s performance really that pathetic? Did he really turn into a lame duck by not challenging Putin directly and by failing to appeal to the nation to back him for president?
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