Medvedev: “Thank God Novaya gazeta exists”

From Robert Coalson writing on HuffPo:

After the meeting, Muratov spoke with media, including RFE/RL’s Russian Service, and explained that Medvedev had not spoken previously because he did not want to influence the ongoing investigation into the killings. Medvedev also reportedly expressed his support for independent media, reportedly saying, “Thank God Novaya gazeta exists.”  (…)

But you’d think Medvedev would be a little more proud of such a historic achievement. The official Kremlin website does not relate any of the president’s liberal pronouncements. It does not include a photograph of the event. It merely lists a one-line statement to the effect that the meeting took place. State television did not deem the event worthy of significant coverage, despite its potentially historic significance. Medvedev has not repeated any of the sentiments he expressed to Muratov in public.

The official silence about the meeting has led Novoye vremya this week to editorialize that the meeting was nothing but another example of the Kremlin’s “liberalism for export.” Former Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov urges us to “look past [Medvedev’s] superficial photo ops and meaningless statements.”