Dmitry Medevdev, Russia’s president, on Monday ordered the government to prepare for a continuation of the economic crisis into 2010, delivering a markedly pessimistic view of the country’s economy and mandating wide-ranging budget cuts until now put on hold.

In an address to top government officials on the budget priorities until 2012, the president sided with the fiscal conservatives in an economic debate that has been raging within the Russian government since last autumn, over how much to cut spending in the face of the crisis.