Chinese president congratulates Medvedev on inauguration as Russian president

Russia presidential election 2008

BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message to Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday to congratulate him on hisinauguration as Russian president.

In his message, the Chinese president extended his best wishes to Medvedev and expressed the confidence that Russia will score new achievements in its development under Medvedev's leadership.

Developing the strategic partnership between the two countries conforms to the fundamental interests of both nations, and is also important to safeguarding peace and security of the region and the world at large, and promoting common development and prosperity, Hu said.

It is the shared responsibility of China and Russia to ensure the steady and healthy development of their strategic partnership, Hu said.

The Chinese president also expressed his readiness to work with Medvedev to deepen mutual political trust between the two countries, deepen pragmatic cooperation and strengthen coordination in international and regional affairs.

Medvedev was sworn in on Wednesday in Moscow, succeeding Vladimir Putin two months after he won the country's presidential election.

MOSCOW, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia's president-elect Dmitry Medvedev received his credentials from the country's election watchdog on the eve of his inauguration, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Vladimir Churov, the chairman of the Central Election Commission, handed Medvedev the documents during a work meeting in Moscow, Interfax news agency reported. Full story

MOSCOW, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday refused to join the United Russia party, which holds two-thirds majority in parliament.

"United Russia is of course a party of like-minded people and a party close to me ideologically. But my direct participation would be premature," Medvedev, who will succeed outgoing President Vladimir Putin, told the party's congress in Moscow. Full story

MOSCOW, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Russia is ready to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) this year, President-elect Dmitry Medvedev said here Tuesday.

"We are really ready to join the WTO, we are quite capable of completing this process within this year," Medvedev was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying, while speaking to members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE). Full story

LONDON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev has warned that granting NATO membership to the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia could threaten European security, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Medvedev's comments will step up pressure on the alliance not to allow the two states to join NATO's "membership action plan" at a summit in Bucharest next week, the newspaper said. Full story

MOSCOW, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia's president-elect Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that he would strive to improve government structure and address the issues raised by the incumbent President Vladimir Putin.

"I am ready to start working on the issues you (Putin) mentioned and look at the structure of the government and deal with the problems you raised," said Medvedev, Russia's first deputy prime minister, who has won the country's fifth presidential election by a landslide. Full story

MOSCOW, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev pledged to establish "friendly and partnership relations" with incumbent President Vladimir Putin, hours after official figures show that he has won the state's fifth presidential election.

"I would say that my relations with Putin should be based on several elements. The first element is that these should be fully friendly and partnership relations based on the fact that we have been working together for a long time and trust each other," he told a press conference in Moscow early Monday morning.