Khodorkovsky & Lebedev Communications Center

Nina Krushcheva discusses whether Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is interfering with President Dmitry Medevedev's liberal reform agenda or whether it is just performance. Krushcheva believes that Putin is a very experienced operative, she said: "He [Putin] knows that he needs to keep his cards close to his chest...So I believe that it's all a big political game." She expressed her suspicion about how independent Medvedev really is. Krushcheva said: "The Putin-Medevedev balance makes it a much more interesting story for the world to observe...it keeps Russia in conversation...in the loop."