Moscow:  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday insisted that Russia must build a new motorway that was suspended by President Dmitry Medvedev in a move hailed as a rare victory for popular protest.

Medvedev on Thursday ordered the suspension of plans to build the Moscow-Saint Petersburg motorway through Khimki forest outside Moscow, after environmental concerns became a rallying call for the Russian opposition.

"The road between Russia's biggest centres, Moscow and Saint Petersburg, needs to be built," Putin said on a visit to the Far East city of Khabarovsk noting there were "always problems between development and conserving nature."

He said that "unfortunately, we sometimes find that ecological problems are exploited in conflicts between (business) competitors."

Strain

But Putin was also careful not to give any sign of strains between himself and Medvedev over this issue.

"We discussed this question with Dmitry Anatoliyevich (Medvedev). I repeat that this completely corresponds to the logic of our behaviour and the practice of recent years."

Pointedly, Putin then set off towards the next big city to the west, Chita some 2,000 kilometres distant, driving himself in a yellow Lada car on a newly-built highway.

"Until now, there was no motorway here. Finally, we did it. I need to look at it," he said.

Medvedev's order came after at least 2,000 people turned out last Sunday for a banned concert in central Moscow protesting the Khimki forest motorway plans and was seen as a rare sign of the authorities responding to popular protests.

He has ordered the construction to be suspended, pending a review which could see the original route reaffirmed or an entirely new one adopted.

Real dialogue

"It's a good tactic by the Kremlin — to let the passions ease. The authorities are not presenting it as a response to a mass protest but as their own idea," said Nikolai Petrov of the Carnegie Centre in Moscow.

"The authorities fear real dialogue with society as they do not want people to believe that they can take part in the discussions," he told AFP.

Last Sunday's protest — fronted by charismatic rock musician Yury Shevchuk — was much larger than previous opposition protests under the decade-long rule of Putin where unsanctioned rallies have been characterised by thin turnouts.

Medvedev's decision came after an unprecedented appeal made by the ruling United Russia party, which the Russian press reported had been prompted by a request from the Kremlin administration.

Sections of the press called the move a landmark decision, with Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper hailing a "green revolution" in Russia.