Sergei Mironov

The conflict between Russia's ruling pro-Kremlin party United Russia and upper house speaker Sergei Mironov over the latter's disagreement with the prime minister ended peacefully when the sides signed an agreement.

Mironov, Federation Council speaker and leader of the A Just Russia party, fueled the wrath of the United Russia party on February 2 when he said in a television interview he did not fully share Vladimir Putin's policy, in particular his budget plan.

Senior members of United Russia, which holds the parliamentary majority and is led by Putin, reacted by saying they could demand Mironov's resignation, but later toned down their harsh criticism.

Mironov stressed that his party was and will be in opposition to United Russia and that this was quite normal.

The agreement signed on Monday between A Just Russia and United Russia says that A Just Russia supports the policy of President Dmitry Medvedev and Putin on strategic issues of foreign policy, national security and countering extremism.

Vyacheslav Volodin, a leading member of the United Russia party, said that should Mironov violate the agreement, the issue of his resignation would be raised again.

Deputy general director of the Political Technology Center, Dmitry Orlov, said that Mironov, when he signed the coalition agreement with United Russia, in fact gave up his opposition to United Russia and suffered an "image and political defeat."

Russia was badly hit by the global economic crisis, with the Russian government devaluing the ruble and cutting spending. The government has also introduced a set of unpopular measures in 2010, including higher utility services bills, increased prices for food and medicines, and higher public transport fares.

However, despite heavy criticism from opposition parties, the popularity of Putin and President Medvedev was not damaged by the crisis and they remain unchallenged leaders in opinion polls.

RIA Novosti