Russia will defend interests abroad: Medvedev

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will robustly defend its interests abroad, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday in a speech that made clear he would not soften the assertive policies that irked the West under his predecessor.

Russia-watchers scrutinise statements from the Kremlin leader, who took office in May, for any indication of changes from his mentor and previous president Vladimir Putin.

Putin re-asserted Russia as a major power after a decade in which the country saw its Soviet-era influence sharply reduced. In the process, Putin irked the West by confronting it on issues from Kosovo to Iran.

Some observers predicted that 42-year-old former lawyer Medvedev would take a softer line.

But addressing a gathering of Russia's top diplomats, he said he would stick to Putin's doctrine of seeking a role for Russia on the world stage worthy of its resurgent power.

"Russia has become stronger and is capable of assuming greater responsibility for solving problems on both a regional and global scale," Medvedev told a meeting with over 200 Russian ambassadors and senior foreign ministry officials.

Ex-KGB spy Putin, has stayed on as prime minister and continues to help shape policy.

"The world, which got rid of the Cold War, still cannot achieve a new balance," Medvedev said in his, speech delivered in the foreign ministry's Stalin-era building still decorated with the Soviet emblem.