Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was out of office Monday after a public spat with President Dmitry Medvedev, though it remained unclear if he had quit or been fired, dpa reported.
"The president has signed the edicts to release the deputy prime minister and finance minister," said Medvedev spokeswoman Natlia Timakova, in a statement cited by major Russian news services.
That much was clear Monday night.
But, whereas Timakova went on to say that the paperwork had been filed upon the recommendation of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Kudrin told media that he had resigned.
Medvedev had called on Kudrin to resign earlier Monday, in a rare public confrontation between Kremlin officials, because Kudrin had criticized Medvedev's policies in public. The two have a long-running disagreement over government spending priorities.
The Russian leader made his demand during a cabinet meeting in Moscow, in the wake of Kudrin's weekend declaration in Washington he did not want to serve in a future government led by Medvedev.
"You need to decide very soon ... I want your answer by the end of the day," Medvedev said, according to the Interfax news agency.
Kudrin had said he would be unable to work with a government led by Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin because, Kurdrin said, the pair was forcing too much military spending on the country's taxpayers, and failing to invest sufficiently in infrastructure improvement and social programmes.
Medvedev and Putin on Saturday - at a congress of Russia's dominant political party, United Russia - announced a plan for the pair to switch jobs in 2012, with Putin becoming president and Medvedev taking over the prime minister's position.
Most observers have said the scenario is very likely to become reality, because of United Russia's near total control of Russia's central and provincial governments, and Putin's wide popularity.
But instead of immediately acceding to Medvedev, Kudrin responded with a barely veiled insult that struck at Medvedev's legitimacy.
"I indeed have differences with you. But before I make my decision I would like to consult the prime minister," Kudrin said.
Kudrin's answer, which implied Putin, not Medvedev, hired and fired government ministers and ran Russia's politics, was a rare open challenge by a senior Russian official to the Putin-Medvedev tandem. Putin has been president or prime minister since 2000. Medvedev has been president since 2008.
"You can consult with whomever you wish ... but as long as I am president, I am the one who will make decisions about cabinet positions," Medvedev said.
Medvedev, after the testy exchange with Kudrin, warned other cabinet members that he found what the finance minister had done unacceptable.
"No one has annulled the rule about official discipline and speaking out of turn," Medvedev said. "If any politician wants to leave this government all he needs to do is submit his resignation."
Kudrin had served as finance minister since 2000, having been appointed by Putin. He is the first minister to leave since Putin and Medvedev divided power in 2008.
"The letting go is a logical consequence of the cooperation between Putin and Medvedev," said political scientist Dmitry Orlov. "The president had no other choice."
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