British media reported that Putin was considering resigning as prime minister (photo)

Medvedev (left) held talks with Putin last week.

　　□ Morning News reporter Xu Huifen

　　The British "Guardian" recently reported that the financial crisis that hit Russia’s economy began to break the delicate power balance in Russian politics, and the internal struggle weakened the authority of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and further worsened his relationship with President Dmitry Medvedev. There are rumors that Putin is considering resigning as prime minister in order not to make himself the focus of public dissatisfaction.

　　In recent months, the friction between Putin and Medvedev has frequently appeared in the western media. It has been reported that the western media have made a "deep-seated" interpretation of some news, claiming that there is a crack in the "Mapp combination". In fact, it is to hype the relationship between Mapp and Russia to achieve the purpose of singing down Russia in the context of the financial crisis.

　　The power struggle between the two factions put Putin in an awkward position.

　　According to the Guardian, there are more and more signs that a "powerful group" with Putin as the core and figures from the military and security system is fighting with the economic liberals headed by Medvedev for control of the rapidly shrinking national finance.

　　The conflict between the two factions put Putin in an awkward position. This "mysterious figure" who worked in the former Soviet National Security Council (KGB) for 15 years has a deep connection with powerful groups, but at the same time, Putin has an extraordinary relationship with some liberals from his hometown of St. Petersburg.

　　Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin is one of the important figures at the center of the power struggle. He is unpopular with powerful groups, and he warns powerful groups and private companies with interests in powerful groups that the state will limit financial assistance to large companies.

　　Micael, a former economic policy adviser to the government, said that powerful groups always wanted to get rid of Kudrin, but for Putin, Kudrin was one of his assistants and an old ally when he was in St. Petersburg.

　　Some experts believe that when Putin tried to control the conflict between the two factions, his own position gradually weakened and the relationship with Medvedev also appeared cracks. "In the past, Putin often played the role of’ arbitrator’, above the two factions of powerful groups and rational economists." Political analyst Demiche said, "But now, he has been dragged into this fight, and he has even been’ attacked from both sides’. For powerful groups, Putin is too weak, while economists gather more around Medvedev. "