COMRADE? - AT 3:50 P.M. ET: 

LONDON (AFP) - - Russia's Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as "my new comrade" Thursday after their first face-to-face talks, saying the US president "can listen" -- even if little progress was made on substance.

The Russian president contrasted Obama as "totally different" from his predecessor George W. Bush, whom he blamed for the "mistake" of US missile shield plans fiercely opposed by Moscow.

COMMENT:  Yuch.  Bush was correct on the missile shield, and East European countries took the risk of signing on to the Bush program.  Words like this from Medvedev, no matter how well he smiles, will not go down well in the capitals of our East European friends.

April 3, 2009