[Updated at 2:03 p.m. ET] President Dmitry Medvedev has signed an order dismissing longtime Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, the Kremlin reported Monday on its website.
The state-run RIA-Novosti news agency said Kudrin had resigned amid a dispute with Medvedev.
[Posted at 12:15 p.m. ET] Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin resigned Monday amid a dispute with President Dmitry Medvedev, the state-run RIA-Novosti news agency reported.
The president had given Kudrin until the end of the day to decide whether to resign, the state-run Interfax News Agency reported earlier in the day.
"You need to make a decision quickly and tell me about it today," Medvedev told Kudrin during a session of the modernization commission in Dimitrovgrad. Medvedev urged that Kudrin "make up his mind about his political future."
The president was reacting to a comment Kudrin is reported to have made in Washington. Citing differences with Medvedev, particularly related to defense spending, Kudrin said that he would not remain in a government led by Medvedev, Interfax said.
- CNN's Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this story.
Don't p/@@ off the putkin.