Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday the era of US financial dominance was over, and he won the backing of Germany’s visiting chancellor in calling for a “more just” system.
Both Medvedev and German leader Angela Merkel called for new measures to respond to a credit crunch that has raised fears of a deep worldwide recession since it spread from the US into international markets.
“The time of domination by one economy and one currency has been consigned to the past once and for all,” Medvedev said during a forum alongside Merkel.
PHOTO: EPA
“We must work together towards building a new and more just financial-economic system in the world based on the principles of multipolarity, supremacy of the law and taking account of mutual interests,” he said.
Medvedev said the economic crisis showed the US was not powerful enough to control world markets alone.
“The events of recent times confirmed that a single country, even powerful, is unable to be a kind of mega-regulator,” he said.
His comments came a day after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin lashed out at US economic “irresponsibility” for the global financial crisis.
Russia’s fledgling stock markets, rarely predictable in normal times, have swung wildly in recent weeks as the scope of the US-rooted crisis has become clear, forcing regulators to repeatedly suspend trading.
Speaking through a translator, Merkel said: “We need new mechanisms of international [financial] architecture. I have long been convinced of this, not just during the latest financial crisis.”
Germany is widely considered Russia’s closest ally in Western Europe, but Merkel has sharply reproached Russia over its brief August war with the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
She reiterated her criticism on Thursday of Moscow over its military intervention in Georgia, while questioning the scope of a EU peace monitoring mission launched in the Caucasus state.
“Russia’s reaction in this conflict had not been appropriate,” she said.
“We still need to talk about the role of OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] observers, see how it will develop,” she said, alluding to the deployment of monitors in two Russian-backed rebel regions of Georgia.
Russia refuses to yield to this demand, saying the decision belongs to the two breakaway republics, whose independence it recognized in August.
But at the joint press conference, Merkel said: “We believe Georgia’s territorial integrity is not open for discussion.”
She also addressed the contentious issue of NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine, which Russia opposes, saying it was too soon to provide the ex-Soviet republics with a so-called Membership Action Plan, which sets in motion the procedure for joining the alliance.
A NATO ministerial meeting in December that many predicted would be the occasion for the alliance to extend MAP to Georgia and Ukraine would instead be only “an initial evaluation on the road to MAP,” Merkel said.
“The position in favor of membership as soon as possible is not the German position,” Merkel said.
She has stood out in the EU by pressing for the lines of communication with Moscow to remain open. But tensions over Georgia have spilled over into other areas of German-Russian cooperation.
The talks, held each year alternately in Russia and Germany, were limited this year to one day and included fewer ministers than usual, indicating the strained relations.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
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