"The crisis of the international financial system demands urgent joint action. It's absolutely obvious the time has come for new decisions," Mr Medvedev said in the two-minute clip.

Russia's stock market has fallen dramatically in recent weeks, with the dollar-denominated RTS Index down 19.1 per cent on Monday (local time). The Russian President also repeated his demand for a new international security umbrella for Europe and said he would raise this at the Evian meeting with other leaders.

The short video, which opens showing Mr Medvedev working at his computer, was the first time the Kremlin has issued a statement using the internet as its primary medium.