Medvedev cosies up to U.S. cowboys - in Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) - He's had cheeseburgers with U.S. President Barack Obama, palled around with ex-Hollywood movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger and gushed with praise on a visit to Silicon Valley.

On Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev encountered another American phenomenon: the cowboy.

He did so not in the United States but in the western Russian region of Bryansk, where some American cattle wranglers are working to help train Russians to develop the domestic beef industry.

The iPad-totting prime minister was quick to tweet a picture of the unexpected meeting, introducing the snapshot of an American in a stable in a broad-brimmed black hat as a "Real Bryansk cowboy."

Medvedev, who is just returned from talks in the United States at Camp David with G8 leaders, chatted in English to two Americans dressed in boots, jeans and chequered shirts from the U.S. states of Idaho and Oregon, the state RIA news agency reported.

More formally attired in a blue suit, he patted their horses and asked about their progress with the Russian language. The cowboys joked that in place of "please" and "thank you", the first phrases they learned in Russian were those needed for herding cattle: "open the gate" and "close the gate."

Medvedev was forced to cut short the cattle farm visit after a downpour and strong winds nearly knocked over the pavilion where he met with officials.

"I think we need to break off and move to another building," he was shown on state television as saying, when the flapping of the tent grew so loud as to drown out his words.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Janet Lawrence)