Putin expects new US president to improve ties

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he expects the next U.S. administration to improve the now strained relations between the two countries.
Putin tells a French daily that "when global crises have emerged in the world, Russia and the U.S. have always been together." And he said he would like Washington to remember that "mutual interests outweigh some disagreements."

The recent war in Georgia has dragged U.S.-Russian relations down to a post-Cold War low, with Washington accusing Moscow of being heavy handed and Moscow countering that U.S. military aid to Georgia stoked the war in the first place.

Putin indicates that a turn for the better is unlikely until a new U.S. president is elected, and even then, any moves to improve relations will be up to Washington. As he puts it, "They spoiled them, let them improve them."