LEAD: Protests continue over Russian vote; Medvedev slams Obama

Dec 17, 2011, 16:26 GMT

Moscow - Protesters continued to gather Saturday across Russia to demonstrate against what they say were stolen elections two weeks ago.

About 1,500 people gathered peacefully in Moscow and other cities to hear demands for reforms to the political system. The Interfax news agency reported there were four arrests after unauthorized demonstrations in the central city of Samara.

'It's not enough just to swap out people,' Grigory Yavlinsky, found of the opposition party Yabloko told the crowd in Moscow, arguing that Russia needed comprehensive reform, not just new faces in charge.

Sergei Mitrochin, head of Yabloko, renewed calls for the removal of Vladimir Churov, head of the country's election commission, and freedom for all opposition members jailed in the protests after the December 4 parliamentary election.

There were also growing calls to put forward popular blogger Alexei Navalni as a unity candidate for the opposition in next March's presidential elections, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to run in an effort to return to the presidency, which he held from 2000 to 2008.

A large phalanx of security forces kept a close eye on the proceedings.

President Dmitry Medvedev meanwhile said he refuses to hear criticism from the United States about alleged fraud in the election.

'I was forced to tell (US) President Barack Obama on the phone that the assessment of our elections by the US is of no significance to us,' Medvedev told Interfax on Saturday.

He said Russia was open to constructive criticism, but that 'commentary like that from the Cold War' was not acceptable.

The election, in which the United Russia party of Medvedev and Putin won just under 50 per cent of the vote, has prompted mass protests by people who say that the party actually performed significantly worse and only managed to retain its majority with blatant ballot stuffing.

Putin has blamed the US for giving the signal to start the protests, many of which have focused on him and his bid to run for president in 2012 elections. Putin previously served as president between 2000 and 2008.

Medvedev said Russia remained committed to a resumption of diplomatic relations with the US, but said it would continue to follow its own national interests.

He noted that the two countries still disagreed on NATO plans to base missile defence systems in Europe. Russia feels those systems would degrade the potential of its own missile systems.

'If you don't listen to us, then we'll answer,' he said.

Russia has announced plans to bulk up armaments in its Kaliningrad exclave as a response to the planned NATO defence system.

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