By Liao Lei

    MOSCOW, DEC. 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has now spent more than seven months in the Kremlin, as has his predecessor, current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in his new seat in the "White Palace" government compound by the Moscow River.

    Both of them, who some say represent the double-headed eagle on the national emblem, continue to pursue the proactive and pragmatic foreign policy initiated during Putin's presidency and strive to regain the country's once-strong global influence.

    CLOSE ALLIES WITH CONSISTENT POLICY

    When the then President Putin announced his clear support last December for Medvedev, his close ally and first deputy prime minister, in the March presidential election, he nearly ensured his protege's victory.

    Medvedev subsequently offered the premiership to Putin, a former schoolmate who had promoted him from a law professor in St.Petersburg to the top job in the Kremlin, while pledging to continue Putin's set policies, saying that they also incorporated his own ideas and contribution.

    In his first foreign policy guideline issued in July, Medvedev vowed to continue along the path set by Putin and safeguard Russia's interests in the world, amid a deteriorating relationshipwith the United States and the European Union.

    In particular, Medvedev's Foreign Policy Concept inherited Putin's hawkish tone to slam a missile shield plan launched by the United States, which proposed the deployment of missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic.

    The exchange of accusations over the anti-ballistic missile shield plan may have driven Moscow-Washington ties into a downturn, but the Concept also voiced Russia's willingness to cooperate with the United States.

    "It is necessary to switch over Russian-U.S. relations to the state of strategic partnership, to overstep barriers of strategic principles of the past," said the Concept, which is not far from Putin's early appeals.

    However, a month later, a five-day conflict between Russia and U.S.-backed Georgia dashed prospects of a fast patching up of the deteriorating relations between the two nations.

    TEETH BARED ON PRO-NATO GEORGIA

    On Aug. 8, Georgian troops launched a sudden attack against the country's breakaway region of South Ossetia to reclaim control over the Caucasus region. Russia sent in troops the next day, defeating the Georgians.

    The military conflict ended on Aug. 12 with a France-brokered ceasefire pact under which Moscow promised to withdraw its troops.

    A follow-up agreement set a timetable for the withdrawal of Russian troops and for the deployment of foreign observer missions.

    Georgia, a former Soviet republic now seeking NATO membership along with Ukraine, has long accused Moscow of supporting its breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a narrow belt neighboring Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

    Moscow then recognized the self-proclaimed independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Aug. 26.

    Observers say the five-day conflict was Russia's first military fightback against the far-reaching hands of the United States and the U.S.-led NATO's eastward expansion, which Moscow considers a threat to its national security.

    "BACKYARD STRATEGY" TO WARN U.S.

    In addition to counter measures against the U.S. missile shield plan such as resuming patrolling of key areas of the world's oceans and test-firing intercontinental missiles, Russia also dispatched navy convoys to the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea this year as further steps.

    Russian naval ships held exercises in the northern Atlantic in January in the country's first large-scale Atlantic drill in 15 years. The war games involved aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, two destroyers and two supply ships.

    In September, two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers landed at a military airfield in Venezuela to carry out a number of training flights over nearby waters.

    During Medvedev's week-long tour of Latin America in late November, a Russian navy convoy, including a nuclear cruiser, an anti-submarine destructor, a tank vessel and a tugboat, held joint maneuvers with their Venezuelan counterparts.

    Russia also inked an array of oil and arms sale contracts with Venezuela, Cuba and Libya in a bid to strengthen mutual ties in the economic and military sectors.

    "Russia has already returned to Latin America, including Cuba," Medvedev said while summing up his first visit to Latin American countries, which included stops in Peru, Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba.

    However, despite Russia's show of military might, analysts express doubts over the likelihood of an all-around confrontation between Moscow and Washington. They believe the two sides could tap the potential for cooperation in some other areas to preserve world stability.

    This view has been borne out by Russia's suggestion of enhanced cooperation with the United States in fields such as space exploration, nuclear non-proliferation and arms control.

    NETTING SUPPORT, INFLUENCE VIA INT'L AGENCIES

    Amid rows with the West, Russia has repeatedly called for multilateral cooperation and reform of international institutions to ensure global security.

    The Foreign Policy Concept echoed such an idea by slamming unilateralism and advocating multilateral cooperation, noting the United Nations should play a key role in adjusting international relations and coordinating policies.

    In recent years, Moscow has actively engaged itself in the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and other international and regional organizations.

    Against the backdrop of the ongoing global financial crisis, Russia participated in the Group of 20 summit in Washington in November to seek solutions and pledged to enhance cooperation with other countries to tackle the crisis.

    Meanwhile, Russia has taken an active part in major international and regional affairs such as the Korean Peninsula and Iranian nuclear issues, the Middle East peace process and alsomade efforts to boost ties with African countries.

    On Nov. 21, Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, passed a bill extending the presidential term from four years to six, 16 days after Medvedev put forth the initiative.

    Analysts say the approval is a clear signal that the country's mainstream political forces are eager to see an extension of the presidential term and the continuity of policies.