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Medvedev holds first direct talks with opposition
Feb 20, 2012, 18:25 GMT
Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday again promised to reform laws governing parliamentary parties, during his first talks with the opposition, the news agency Interfax reported.
Opposition leaders said they were satisfied with the talks and had handed over a list of political prisoners, such as oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
'But there was no miracle,' said Sergey Udaltsov, leader of the Left Front.
A working group under the leadership of the Kremlin was to prepare the changes promised by Medvedvev, according to Udaltsov. The reforms would make it easier to register parliamentary parties.
But Medvedev once again rejected an opposition demand to repeat parliamentary elections held in December which were overshadowed by accusations of fraud.
Since he has said he won't run for a second presidential term, analysts say Medvedev has lost significantly in influence.
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