Medvedev is ““no less a Russian nationalist than I am”

And what exactly is unusual about that? The first duty of AN leader is to serve the interests of the nation he has been trusted to govern.

Can you imagine Barak Obama saying “I am less of an American patriot” than Bush or Clinton? Can you even imagine Bush saying it publicly of Obama (whatever he may privately think) even though they are not of the same party.

American governments serve American interests (or if they don’t you should do something about it) – it is wrong & ultimately futile to expect that foreign leaders also exist to serve American interests.