Medvedev hopes for better ties with Obama

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev said today he hoped his country would be able to develop better ties with the United states under Barack Obama’s administration.

He said the two countries have tried to improve ties, which recently soured amid disputes over US missile defence plans and Russia’s war in Georgia in August.

But “some of the opportunities to develop normal ties with the US have been missed, and not by our fault, we think”, Medvedev said in an interview with Russian television stations broadcast today.

He did not elaborate.

The Russian leader said President-elect Obama told him in a telephone conversation last month that relations with Russia would be a US foreign policy priority.

“I 100% agree with that,” Medvedev said.

“I hope we will be able to develop much more efficient and reliable relations compared to what we had before.”