Putin: Obama May Ease Russia-us Relations

Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington should improve once Barack Obama takes office, Vladimir Putin today suggested.

Speaking before an invited audience at a live, televised question and answer session, the Russian prime minister welcomed the imminent handover at the White House.

"Usually? when there is a change of power in any country, and even more so in a superpower such as the United States, some changes occur," Putin observed.

"We very much hope that these changes will be positive. We are now seeing these positive signals.

"If it's not just words, if they are transformed into practical policy, we will respond accordingly, and our American partners will immediately feel that."

The broadcast, from a Moscow film studio, was the seventh phone-in session staged by the former Russian president. Most of the questions were submitted in advance through a government website.

The annual event is always analyzed closely by foreign observers for hints about the future direction of Putin's political aims. It is significant that Putin has continued hosting these shows despite no longer being president.

Recent constitutional changes to extend the presidential term from four to six years have increased speculation that President Dmitry Medvedev could step down early to let his mentor reclaim the presidency.

Among policy shifts Putin signaled during the interview, was a warning that Russia would cut gas supplies to Ukraine if its neighbor siphons off gas intended to be delivered to Europe.

He also suggested the state could take major stakes in large Russian companies as a means of helping them through the crisis.

"We will use different tools? Other instruments, for example, include the entrance of the state into the capital of big companies, which are fundamental for the economy of the Russia Federation," Putin explained.

Both Medvedev and Putin have expressed hope that Obama's administration will scrap the US's new missile plan, warning that it threatens Russia's nuclear forces. The Bush administration has insisted it poses no threat to Russia and is meant to protect Europe from possible attacks from the Middle East.

The day after Obama's election victory, Medvedev warned that Russia would respond to the US plans for missile defence sites in Europe by deploying short-range missiles to its westernmost region of Kaliningrad, near Poland.

The US and the EU had criticized Russia for disproportionate use of force during the war, and for recognizing Georgia's breakaway regions as independent states afterwards.