Russia's finance chief rebels over Putin plan

Foreign investors were alarmed by Alexei Kudrin's snub after Putin, who is now prime minister, announced he would run for president next March in an election that could extend his rule until 2024.

Kudrin, a Putin ally, has prime ministerial ambitions and said he had "disagreements" with Medvedev who may now struggle to establish his credibility as premier after being forced by Putin to renounce his dream of a second term as president.

"I do not see myself in a new government," Kudrin, 50, said in comments released in Washington, where he was meeting global policymakers.

Setting out his differences with Medvedev over the president's support for an increase in military spending, he said: "I think that the disagreements I have will not allow me to join this government."

Kudrin won the respect of investors as a guardian of financial stability by saving windfall oil revenues for a rainy-day fund which helped Russia through the 2008 global economic crisis.

He said this month that he wanted to be part of the next government if it was reform-minded and his remarks on Sunday will not help lift confidence in Russia's economy after a fall in stocks and the rouble last week.