Russian President Dmitry Medvedev”s first meeting with Barack Obama will be fixed shortly after the U.S. president-elect is sworn in on January 20, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
“The date and venue of the meeting with the new U.S. president will be coordinated shortly after Barack Obama”s inauguration,” presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko told reporters.
In his speech in Washington last Saturday after a summit of 20 rich and emerging economies focusing on the financial crisis, Medvedev said he expected improved relations with the United States under Obama.
“We welcome the election of Barack Obama, and count on him to take steps to overcome the problems that have built up in Russian-American relations,” he said. “I believe that currently Russian-U.S. relations lack the trust that they need.”
Medvedev”s speech came in sharp contrast to his state of the nation address, a day after Obama”s election victory, when the Russian leader blamed Washington for the conflict with Georgia over South Ossetia and pledged to deploy tactical missiles near Poland in response to U.S. missile shield plans.
In an interview earlier, Medvedev said he looked forward to meeting Obama. Medvedev said he and Obama had agreed “to meet without delay… This is important for the United States and the Russian Federation.”
