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Medvedev sworn in as Russian 
president 
Luke Harding
May 8, 2008
Dmitry Medvedev is the new president of Russia. 
He is the third president since the end of the 
Soviet Union. Medvedev became president at a 
ceremony at the Kremlin which ended Vladimir 
Putin’s eight years in power. Standing next to 
Mr Putin, Medvedev gave a speech in which 
he promised to improve the lives of ordinary 
Russians, fight corruption and strengthen the law.
He said: “I’m going to pay special attention to the 
basic role of the law. We must have true respect 
for the law and we must remove those problems 
with the law which are preventing the modern 
development of our country.” He also promised to 
make life “comfortable, confident and secure” for 
ordinary Russians.
Medvedev also praised Mr Putin. People expect 
that Medvedev will name Putin as Russia’s new 
prime minister and head of the government. “I 
would like to thank Vladimir Putin for his personal 
support, which I have always had,” he said.
Putin and Medvedev will probably run Russia 
together – and Putin will probably still have a lot 
of power as prime minister of Russia in his new 
prime ministerial office in Russia’s White House.
Putin arrived at the Kremlin palace first. He 
walked along a long red carpet in front of 2,400 
important guests and diplomats. Medvedev, a 
small man, arrived in the Kremlin’s huge gold 
Andreyevsky Hall next and nervously stared at 
his feet. Afterwards both men stood together 
side by side in the Kremlin’s cold, windy palace 
courtyard. Aged just 42, and the youngest 
Russian leader for more than a hundred years, 
Medvedev now faces a series of problems – both 
at home and abroad.
One of the biggest problems for the new 
president is how to stop Russia’s rising inflation 
– which is around 12% or more. Another problem 
is that people are angry about the rising costs 
of food and utilities. Medvedev also has several 
foreign policy problems. He has to decide what 
to do about the region of Abkhazia, where Russia 
has a disagreement with Georgia, and he has 
to negotiate a new co-operation and partnership 
agreement with the European Union.
Medvevev has announced that his first foreign 
trips will be to China and Kazakhstan. But one of 
his first tasks will be to try to have good relations 
with the next president of the United States – and 
improve Moscow’s problematic relationship
with Washington.
Some experts say that Medvedev’s biggest 
problem is to stop the Kremlin’s powerful military 
intelligence group from moving against him. 
Medvedev – a former St Petersburg lawyer – was 
never in the KGB, whose ex-members have a 
lot of power in the Russian government. Putin 
was in the KGB and had a good relationship with 
these people. “He has got enough problems to 
make his hair go grey,” says Sam Greene, an 
expert at the Moscow Carnegie Centre. 
The question is who will be the real leader of 
Russia, the new president or the new prime 
minister? Medvedev or Putin? Greene says: “The 
current situation will probably continue, so Putin 
will be the person that everyone talks to. This 
government is flexible and has informal power 
relations. I don’t think this is going to change in 
the future. Putin was different from Boris Yeltsin 
because he was able to make different factions 
inside the ruling class agree. This isn’t something 
that’s written in the constitution and you can’t 
easily pass this to Medvedev,” he said.
Political analysts cannot agree whether Putin 
is planning to return as president in 2012, or 
whether he is planning to disappear gradually 
from politics. Russia’s constitution says that 
Putin had to step down after two four-year terms 
as president. But there is nothing to stop him 
returning after a four-year break. Today Putin 
said that he had followed the law – even though 
many powerful people in the government wanted 
him to change the law and continue as president.
“I said I would work openly and honestly, to 
faithfully serve the people and the state. And I