There was time for a small joke between the head of the World Bank and the Russian President as the two men met on Monday in Moscow. Robert Zoellick reminded Dmitry Medvedev that while both men had changed jobs since the

During the talks Medvedev said Russia would fight the two crises affecting the global economy: the credit crunch and rising food prices.

He also warned that the World Bank should not ignore the global financial slump or the soaring cost of food. But he did praise programmes introduced by Zoellick, which Medvedev says are aiding world development.

“Since you've been head of the World Bank, there have been some very positive changes. But the problems in the world are not decreasing, you are very aware of the financial crisis, and the food crisis and the World Bank should react to these problems. Some of the initiatives you have formulated are of interest to me”.

Robert Zoellick gave a positive assessment to the high current growth of the Russian economy and praised Medvedev’s work with a good joke:

“This is a very interesting time for Russia and the relationships with the Bank. You may not remember but we had a chance to meet about a year ago. We both changed jobs since then and I think you've done better!”