Russia’s Medvedev warns Georgian breakaway regions could be annexed

Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of the Kremlin’s powerful Security Council, has warned that Moscow could annex Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Reuters news agency reported.

Medvedev, who has cast himself as one of Moscow’s most hawkish political voices since Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, accused the West in a newspaper article published on Wednesday of creating tension over Georgia by discussing its possible membership in the NATO military alliance.

Russian Government Resigns As Putin Plots Post-Presidency Power Grab

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a constitutional overhaul Wednesday to boost the powers of parliament and the Cabinet, a move signalling Putin’s intention to carve out a new position for himself after his current term ends.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev submitted his resignation hours after Putin discussed the constitutional amendments during his state of the nation address.

The Russian leader thanked Medvedev for his service but said the prime minister’s Cabinet had failed to fulfill all of its objectives. In televised remarks, Putin said Medvedev would take up a new position as a deputy head of the presidential Security Council.

Medvedev, a longtime close associate of Putin’s, has served as Russia’s prime minister since 2012. He spent four years before that as president in 2008-2012, becoming a placeholder when Putin had to switch into the prime minister’s office because of constitutional term limits on the presidency.

How do you solve a problem like Dmitry Medvedev?

MOSCOW — What to do about Dmitry? That’s the question facing Russian President Vladimir Putin as public approval of his government — led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev — drops to unprecedented lows and public frustration with economic conditions and out-of-touch officials soars.

An opinion poll published this month by the Levada Center, an independent pollster based in Moscow, indicated for the first time that a majority of Russians want to see Medvedev’s government dismissed with immediate effect.