Kremlin critics and Russian bloggers on Tuesday mercilessly mocked President Dmitry Medvedev after microphones picked up him promising to "transmit" a message from Barack Obama to Vladimir Putin.
"I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir," Medvedev was heard telling Obama in English in a "hot-mike" exchange on the sidelines of a summit in South Korea that has already caused a storm in the United States.
Medvedev was responding to a vow by Obama that the United States will be more flexible on some bilateral issues such as missile defence once, as he expects, he is re-elected as US president in November elections.
Russian bloggers immediately circulated Medvedev's phrase on Twitter, ridiculing Medvedev for his apparent admission that all information needs to go through the all-powerful Russian number one Putin.
"Today, let's all respond to every tweet: 'I will transmit this to Vladimir'," tweeted opposition movement leader Alexei Navalny.
"Vladimiru", the Russian for "to Vladimir" became a worldwide Twitter trend in a matter of a couple of hours Tuesday morning as bloggers used it as a universal response to any sort of statement or demand.
Medvedev is already widely seen as a lame duck head of state as he will cede the Kremlin on May 7 after four years in power to president-elect Putin, even though he is expected to become prime minister.
Bloggers circulated an image of Putin answering his cell phone in the country side, with the caption saying "Hello, I am Vladimir. Did anyone transmit anything to me?"
Medvedev, who was picked as his successor by Putin in 2008, was never able to shake off his reputation as a president who is not entirely first in command.
Last September similar footage made its way onto the Internet of Medvedev pushing finance minister Alexei Kudrin to quit at a government meeting, to which Kudrin replied "I will consult with the prime minister."
(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
双语资讯
(Agencies)
克里姆林宫批评人士和俄罗斯的博主们本周二无情地嘲讽了俄罗斯总统德米特里•梅德韦杰夫。此前，由于他在与奥巴马会面时没关麦克风，使得他承诺会把奥巴马的话“转达”给普京一事遭到曝光。
在韩国核安全峰会的非正式会议期间，梅德韦杰夫用英语告诉奥巴马：“我明白，我会把这个消息转达给普京的。”这起“麦克风门”已经在美国引发轰动。
奥巴马“悄悄”告诉梅德韦杰夫，如果他能如愿在今年11月的美国大选中顺利连任，会承诺在反导系统等双边问题上采取更加灵活的政策。梅德韦杰夫随后做出上述回答。
俄罗斯的微博博主们立即在推特上传播了梅德韦杰夫的话，讽刺他明显承认所有消息都需要传达给俄罗斯“头号掌权人”普京。
俄罗斯反对运动领袖阿列克谢•纳瓦尼说：“今天，让我们在每条微博下都回复‘我会把它转达给普京’。”
周二上午，短短几个小时之内，“转达给普京”
人们普遍认为梅德韦杰夫是个“跛脚鸭总统”。在执政四年后，他将于今年5月7日卸任总统，将权力移交给当选总统普京，但据称他会出任总理。
网友们还大量转发普京在乡村用手机接听电话的照片，图片说明写道：“你好，我是普京。有人传话给我吗？”
梅德韦杰夫在2008年当选为普京的继任者，一直没能摆脱人们对他“并不是第一领导人”的印象。
去年九月，类似的一段视频也流传到网上。视频中，梅德韦杰夫在一次政府会议上敦促财政部长阿列克谢•库德林辞职，库德林回应他说：“我会征求一下总理的意见。”
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Vocabulary:
on the sidelines: 非正式会议期间
all-powerful: 有无上权力的，全能的，最强大的
lame duck: 无能力的人，不中用的人
(Source: sina.com)