Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday evening to congratulate her on her re-election, after a day of raised eyebrows about why Moscow had been so slow in reacting. The Kremlin's press office said that Medvedev in his call expressed hopes for a further improvement in bilateral relations.
The call came more than 15 hours after the German election returns were in and well behind other countries, triggering speculation about a possible row between the Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin camps over who should send a message to Merkel.
Commentators pointed out that until the news about Medvedev's telephone call, not even politicians from Russia's second ranks had voiced any reaction to the German election results.
For weeks now, Russian media have reported about turf battle behind the scenes between the Medvedev and Putin camps - speculation which both men have dismissed as "speculation."
