Medvedev says U.S. leadership fading

The U.S. financial crisis should be taken as a sign that America's global economic leadership is on the wane, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

Along with other European leaders, Medvedev said poorly regulated U.S. markets caused the current crisis, as he urged greater multilateralism in financial regulation, The New York Times reported Friday.

The times when one economy and one country dominated are gone for good, the Russian leader said Thursday at St. Petersburg State University during the eighth annual Petersburger Dialog, a forum on developing relations with Germany.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would always support a multilateral approach to market regulation.

Russians also are facing a financial system that has been in such turmoil that regulators suspended trading on the stock market three times last month, the Times said. The Russian finance minister said the global credit crisis could cut about 1 percent from Russian growth next year.