Medvedev met in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ahead of this week's G20 summit in London.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Medvedev said the summit must not "evade discussions on the future of international financial organizations" in the context of the ongoing financial crisis.
"We need to build a foundation for our future work, and ensure that such crises do not happen again."
"We cannot turn our work into just a set of narrow solutions - add some money here, extend something's function there, and say everything's fine... I believe that this approach is wrong. We need an entirely new construction."
Merkel said Germany and Russia share some common ground in their approaches to tackling the financial crisis, and that: "We hope we hold similar positions as we head for London."
"We must be very, very clear that the global financial architecture is changed in such a way as to prevent another crisis," she said.
Medvedev stressed that the global financial organizations - the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank - were created more than 60 years ago, under entirely different global conditions.
"We need to think about how to give them the status of modern, vital institutions," he said.
He also highlighted the instability of global currency markets, and said a new system needs to be considered.
Medvedev warned against protectionist measures during the ongoing crisis, saying they must be temporary: "primitive, senseless protectionism that could lead to the closure of markets, trade wars, and the emergence of high walls between countries must be prevented during this period."
