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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia should use foreign technology and financial resources and improve its relations with the West in order to modernize its economy.

"The issue of harmonizing relations with Western democracies is not a matter of taste or someone’s personal preferences for a political group," he said in an article published Thursday on Gazeta.ru, an online newspaper. "Our domestic financial and technological capacities are insufficient for considerably improving the standard of living."

Medvedev said Russia needed European, U.S., and Asian money and technology.

He said confrontation with the West and self-isolation would be dangerous for Russia.

Medvedev said, however, he believed Russia should not make "unilateral concessions" to the West and added that he thought that the view of the West as "infallible" was naive.

Medvedev also reiterated his call for promoting innovation in Russia's economy.

"Over the upcoming decades Russia should become a country whose wealth is based not so much on commodities, but on intellectual resources, including a 'smart' economy that creates unique knowledge as well as exports cutting-edge technology and innovative products," he said.

Medvedev said the economic crisis had shown that Russia's economy was not in good shape and was still heavily dependent on commodity exports.

"(The post-Soviet reforms) have not removed our country's humiliating dependence on commodities," he said. "Our current economy borrowed the most severe defect of the Soviet one; it ignores personal needs to a considerable extent."

Outlining his priorities for Russia's future economic development, Medvedev listed energy efficiency, nuclear technology, IT, a global navigation satellite system, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Commenting on social issues, Medvedev said Russia was a welfare state under the constitution and called for strengthening the social safety network.

He added, however, he believed the welfare state should not be "an inflated Soviet-style social security system." He said living beyond one's means was "immoral, irrational and dangerous."

Medvedev also spoke about political issues. He said he believed Russia's political system should be gradually modernized and democratized, but added that such changes should not be revolutionary.

He said returning to what he termed as the "paralyzed state" of the 1990s was unacceptable. Medvedev added he believed that would put the country on the brink of collapse.

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