MOSCOW — The Kremlin says Russia’s influential finance minister has resigned following a televised confrontation with President Dmitry Medvedev.
Medvedev had angrily demanded that Alexei Kudrin immediately explain his criticism of Medvedev’s policies or step down.
The open tension within Russia’s leadership follows the announcement over the weekend that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plans to return to the presidency next year and Medvedev would then take his old job as prime minister.
The departure of Kudrin on Monday is likely to unsettle investors, who have seen the fiscally conservative finance minister as key to Russia’s economic stability.