Geopolitics Weekly

But that could put strain on Netanyahu's governing coalition, which includes a key far-right party, and the Palestinians have given no sign publicly that it would be enough to coax them into more intensive statehood negotiations.

For his part, Netanyahu was playing to his own right-wing constituents and Likud party colleagues by insisting that East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as their capital, is not included in the West Bank housing start freeze.He declared defiantly on the eve of his previous talks with Obama, that Jerusalem, which Israel considers its capital, is "not a settlement." But no new Jewish homes have been built in East Jerusalem or Palestinian dwellings demolished in months.

Most recently, a planning commission in Israel's Jerusalem municipality approved a park project in which 22 Palestinian homes, built without permits that Palestinians say are impossible to obtain, are due to be razed.However, amid international condemnation of the park project, city officials say the demolitions are not imminent.

The 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the referendum was transparent and the high voter turnout signaled the resilience of Kyrgyz citizens.

Medvedev, speaking after a G20 summit in Toronto, said: "I do not really understand how a parliamentary republic would look and work in Kyrgyzstan."Will this not lead to a chain of eternal problems -- to reshuffles in parliament, to the rise to power of this or that political group, to authority being passed constantly from one hand to another, and, finally, will this not help those with extremist views to power?"In its current state, there are a host of scenarios for Kyrgyzstan, including the most unpleasant scenario -- going up to the collapse of the state," Medvedev said.

His remarks contrasted with the immediate support shown by the Kremlin for Kyrgyzstan's new government after the April 7 uprising that overthrew President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

Under the new charter, Otunbayeva -- the first woman to lead a Central Asian state -- will be acting president until the end of 2011. A former ambassador to the United States and Britain, she has struggled to gain control of the south, Bakiyev's family stronghold, even though she was born in Osh.