President Vladimir Putin put his stamp on a new government Monday that kept his most trusted allies in charge of finance while leaving tested veterans at the helm of foreign affairs and defence.
But the cabinet also saw a top liberal aide of current premier and Putin’s predecessor Dmitry Medvedev win a key industry post after a reportedly bruising battle with some of the more hawkish members of Russia’s government. Putin assembled his new team two weeks after being sworn in for a third term at the Kremlin and sombrely pronounced their mission a difficult one at a time of global economic flux. “The situation the world economy finds itself in today is uncertain. There are a lot of uncertainty factors,” Putin said in televised remarks. “You will have to implement Russia’s development programme in these conditions.” Putin’s crushing victory in March elections sparked immediate fears of a return to the confrontational tone with the West that characterised much of his 2000-2008 presidency. The ex-KGB spy and his protege Medvedev went on to complete a disputed job swap after the polls that will stretch Putin’s 12-year domination until 2018 and was one of the primary triggers for mass protests in recent months. Many of the faces in Russia’s new cabinet featured in the outgoing cabinet while some of those not making the cut are expected instead to move over to Putin’s Kremlin administration.
