Medvedev upbeat before Obama meeting

MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev expressed confidence Tuesday that Russia and the U.S. can mend badly frayed relations, the latest upbeat talk from Moscow before his first meeting with President Barack Obama.

Medvedev said he hopes the two will meet in London on April 1, on the eve of an international economic summit.

"I think we have every possibility of opening a new page in Russian-American relations," Medvedev said during a meeting with members of a U.S. commission set up last year with the aim of helping forge Russia policy.

"Unfortunately, our relations have deteriorated very significantly in recent years," Medvedev said in televised remarks from the meeting.

"The signals we are receiving today from the U.S. — I mean most of all the signals I am receiving from President Obama — seem to me quite positive," he said.

Ties between Russia and the United States spiraled to a post-Cold War low last year as Russia's invasion of U.S. ally Georgia compounded disputes on security and democracy.

Russian officials have welcomed Obama's stated intention to "reset" relations, but have also suggested an improvement in ties would need concessions from the U.S. on divisive issues such as the previous administration's plans to deploy a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed hopes of improving ties at their meeting Friday in Geneva. The first major test of whether the upbeat rhetoric will translate into a meaningful thaw will come when Medvedev and Obama meet early next month.

Russian and American officials have said the two were expected to hold their first face-to-face talks since Obama's inauguration when both attend the April 2 economic summit in London of the G-20 advanced and developing nations.

"I hope that on the 1st (of April) U.S. President Barack Obama and I can see each other and discuss all these issues," Medvedev said.

Among the Americans who met with Medvedev were former U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel and Gary Hart, a Republican and a Democrat, respectively. The two are co-chairs of the Commission on U.S. Policy toward Russia, which was established last year and includes Russia experts, former U.S. diplomats and others.

Hart said the group would do its best to foster better Russian-American relations, according to a Russian-language Kremlin transcript of opening remarks from the meeting. He said the commission would likely present policy recommendations on Monday in Washington, according to the transcript.