Dmitry Medvedev's election as Russia's president will not lead to a thaw in the country's difficult relationship with the west, according to Angela Merkel, German chancellor.
"I think there will be continuity," Ms Merkel said after meeting Mr Medvedev in Moscow on Saturday. "I do not think that the controversies will just disappear".
Ms Merkel was the first western leader to meet the president-elect, whom she described as "very factual". Mr Medvedev would travel to Germany on one of his first official visits after taking office, she said.
"I hope that the friendly and comradely co-operation you had with President Putin will now continue," Mr Medvedev told the German chancellor.
The tone of Ms Merkel's conversations with the Russian leadership on her trip was warmer than on earlier occasions and German officials believe Mr Medvedev wishes to pursue a constructive relationship with Berlin.
The chancellor also breakfasted with Vladimir Putin, the outgoing president and future prime minister. Both leaders made it clear their meeting was not a farewell encounter and that Mr Putin would, at least for some time, continue to shape Russia's policies.
Mr Putin reiterated his opposition to the eastward expansion of Nato. The western military alliance plans to invite Albania, Croatia and Macedonia to become members at its April summit.
He also said Russia would not recognise an independent Kosovo as long as Serbia refused to do so, and warned the precedent would boost separatist movements in the UK, Belgium and Spain.
Mr Putin joked that Ms Merkel would not find his successor much easier to deal with: "You get the impression that some partners are looking forward to the moment when I stop performing my duties to deal with another man.
"I am used to the label that it's hard to work with a former KGB agent," he said. "Medvedev will be free from the need to prove his liberal views. But he is no less a nationalist - in the good sense of the word - than I am. And I don't think our partners will have an easier time with him."
Yet both Mr Putin and Ms Merkel noticeably abstained from the confrontational language that had marked previous get-togethers in Germany last year and during the EU-Russia summit in Samara two years ago.
Mr Putin even hinted that Mr Medvedev could pardon Mikail Khodorkovsky, the imprisoned magnate. "It should be remembered that matters of pardoning are under the authority of the Russian head of state," Mr Putin said.
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