New photos a safe bet for Russian workers

Moscow -- New photographs showing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin together are a safe bet for workers to display, an analyst says.

Political analyst Yury Korgunyuk said by placing such photographs of both politicians in their offices, Russian workers are ensuring they won't offend supporters of either of the powerful leaders, The Moscow Times said Friday.

"This is why they keep the portrait of both of them in their offices. They don't want to offend either of them, even from a visual point of view," Korgunyuk said.

Yet the Indem think tank official warned such employees they may be forced to make some emergency alterations to the diplomatic pictures if the either the current or former president lose influence.

"But our bureaucrats are really flexible: They can change their mind within few seconds. If they see that Putin is not powerful anymore, they will cut his portrait off the picture and throw it away," he told the Times.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.