Medvedev distances himself from Soviet past

Medvedev, 44, became president two years ago but is widely seen as holding less power than Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

MOSCOW, February 25, 2010 (AFP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published Thursday that he has no desire to return to the Soviet Union, underscoring his image as modernising reformer.

"I was born and raised in the Soviet Union, and I got my education in that period," Medvedev told the French weekly magazine Paris-Match, according to a text of the interview posted on the Kremlin website.

"But the society we had back then, its ideology, its principles -- these are absolutely not close to me," he added.

"Emotionally, I have many dear and pleasant memories of that period, but if you consider the basis of that society, let alone its economy, I would very much not want to find myself in such conditions again."

Medvedev, 44, became president two years ago but is widely seen as holding less power than Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was accused of reviving aspects of the Soviet system during his own presidency in 2000-2008.

Putin, 57, once famously described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century.