The President's place is at the Kremlin while that of the Prime Minister is at the government, Dmitri Medvedev declared in his first press conference after partial official results of the presidential elections were announced.

When prompted about the prerogatives of the Russian foreign strategy, Medvedev told BBC that according to the Russian constitution, the foreign affairs strategy is set by the President. He added that he would promote the same strategy adopted eight years ago: that of defending Russian interests.

He argued that he did not plan to redistribute the powers of the president and that of the PM and declared himself confident that an efficient collaboration between the two institutions would advantage the country.

He made the comments as incumbent President Vladimir Putin prepares to take over the seat of prime minister once his place at the Kremlin is taken by Medvedev later this spring.