Medvedev Has Big Promises to Fulfill
The Financial Times has an opinion article up urging the West to seize the Medvedev moment and begin new discussions. They also call upon him to fulfill his promises to restore rule of law and release political prisoners such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky:
A lawyer, he has pledged to promote the rule of law. That promise should be welcome to the many Russians who suffer daily from abuses of power, including corruption and judicial malpractice. Not the least among them is Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed oil baron, who was imprisoned on politically motivated fraud charges and now faces new allegations. Mr Medvedev must show that by upholding the rule of law he means to strengthen the rights of citizens and not simply to reinforce the rights of an over-mighty state, as Mr Putin has done.