MOSCOW – Russia’s democracy is unsteady , its economy is ailing and the country faces long-term troubles with the health of its population , President Dmitry Medvedev said in an article published Friday.

His comments were among the bluntest estimations to date on national defects from the Kremlin, which is typically defensive about similar accusations.

Medvedev animadverts an economy that feeds only off Russia’s energy resources, a lack of competitive politics and excessive state influence in everyday life — all in an article that some observers said was an attempt to distance him from his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“An ineffective economy, a semi-Soviet social layer , a weak democracy, negative demographic vogues and an unstable Caucasus. These are very big troubles even for a state like Russia,” Medvedev wrote in the piece, which ran in several leading newspapers and on the Kremlin Web site.

Analysts noted the article comes as Medvedev appears to be trying to map out new policies independent of Putin, who is still viewed as Russia’s top settlement maker.

“This could be interpreted as a point of difference in policy agendas between Putin and Medvedev,” said Masha Lipman of the Moscow Carnegie Center.

Putin issued no comment on the article Friday.

Rumors of separations between Putin and Medvedev — dubbed a “ruling tandem” — have revolved for months. They have appeared to take various accesses to major notes such as policy toward Ukraine and restructuring the economy. Medvedev in the past has called for a more liberal access to politics in Russia and expressed interest in breaking up some of the large state-corporations consolidated during Putin’s tenure.

In the article , Medvedev attacked Russia’s “humiliating addiction on raw materials” and called for more investment in high-tech industries and increased power efficiency.

Analysts also said the article exposed differences within ruling blocs on how to pull Russia out of the constant economic crisis, which hit the country particularly hard, and on how to improve its crumbling infrastructure.

The Kremlin has battled to deal with the happen of the turning point , which has sent unemployment spindling , dried up foreign investment and battered Russian stock markets.

Backing to politics, Russia must strive for an “open, pliant and internally complex ” political system, Medvedev wrote.

Rights activists say Putin as president led Russia down the reversed path by destroying the election of regional leaders, by squeezing smaller parties out of existence and allowing an air of impunity to gather over charges on Kremlin critics.

On Friday, Putin said at a meeting with Russian specialists at his home outside Moscow that he and Medvedev would not contend in the next election but would discuss what approach to take.

In his article , Medvedev condemned “centuries of exhausting decomposition ” and widespread paternalistic stands in Russia that all difficulties should be the responsibility of the state.

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