Russian PM Medvedev said they are keen to work with Donald Trump to improve ties.
Moscow:
Russian officials and lawmakers lauded Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, hoping it will herald a period of better ties with the United States, while revelers in Moscow and elsewhere gathered for celebrations as bar and club owners sought to cash in on public excitement.Mr Trump's promises to fix ravaged relations with Moscow have elated Russia's political elite amid spiraling tensions with Washington over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that while Mr Trump's policy toward Russia is unclear yet, "we are hoping that reason will prevail."
"We are ready to do our share of the work in order to improve the relationship," Mr Medvedev said on Facebook.
Mr Trump's praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised expectations that he could move to normalize ties, even though he hasn't articulated a clear Russia policy and some of his Cabinet nominees have made hawkish statements on Russia.
Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, predicted that Moscow will face a pragmatic but very tough partner in Mr Trump.
"Russia's potential is incomparable to that of the United States," he said, adding that Moscow will have to apply a lot of skills "to play from the position of weakness and not lose."
But despite the uncertainty, many Russians looked at Trump's presidency with high hopes, and some nightclubs and bars called parties to celebrate the inauguration.
At one Moscow nightclub, several dozen people began toasting Mr Trump late Thursday.
Willi Tokarev, 82, a singer who emigrated to the US in the mid-1970s and later became a music legend in Russia, topped the entertainment bill with his song "Trumplissimo America!"
"Trump, Trump - symbol of America. Trump, Trump, he's really president," the mustachioed Tokarev sang on a tiny stage with the Russian and American flags hanging behind him.
Across from the US embassy compound in central Moscow, the Russian Army store put up a poster with Mr Trump's picture, offering inauguration day discounts of 10 per cent for Americans.
There is a broad feeling in Russia's political and business elites that relations with Washington just can't get any worse.
"Russia hopes that under Trump there will be no ideology, no attempts to lecture about democracy, human rights and rights of smaller nations around its borders ... but primarily deal with economic issues in a businesslike way and even tacitly divide spheres of influence," said Alexei Arbatov, a senior researcher with the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, a government-funded Moscow think-tank.
"Putin and Obama spoke different languages, they didn't understand one another. There is a hope that Trump and Putin will speak the same language, even though their positions may differ."
Leonid Slutsky, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, said in an opinion piece published Friday that "constructive approach and pragmatism have practically disappeared from the Russia-U.S. agenda during Obama's presidency."
Mr Medvedev, who served as president in 2008-2012 when Mr Putin had to shift into the premier's seat due to term limits, presided over a period of warmer ties during Mr Obama's first term. He sharply criticized the outgoing administration for ruining relations with Moscow by attempting to treat Russia like a "banana republic" and relying on "brute force and sheer pressure" in its dealings with Moscow.
"Conclusion: The Obama administration has destroyed relations between the United States and Russia, which are at their lowest point in decades," Medvedev said.
He denounced the sanctions the U.S. and its allies imposed on Russia over its action in Ukraine, saying that they "have reduced our cooperation to zero."
"It doesn't get any dumber than restricting entry to the United States for the leadership of the Russian parliament, ministers, and businessmen, thus deliberately reducing the possibility of full-fledged contacts and closing the window to cooperation," he said.
State TV stations carried flattering reports about Trump Friday, chronicling his business achievements and describing his ritzy lifestyle.
Senior Russian lawmakers spoke with disapproval about anti-Trump protests and criticized CNN for speculating about possible succession if Trump is assassinated in an attack on the inauguration day.
"That atmosphere shows us the flaws of Western democracy, particularly in the United States." ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky said in parliament.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that while Mr Trump's policy toward Russia is unclear yet, "we are hoping that reason will prevail."
"We are ready to do our share of the work in order to improve the relationship," Mr Medvedev said on Facebook.
Mr Trump's praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised expectations that he could move to normalize ties, even though he hasn't articulated a clear Russia policy and some of his Cabinet nominees have made hawkish statements on Russia.
Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, predicted that Moscow will face a pragmatic but very tough partner in Mr Trump.
"Russia's potential is incomparable to that of the United States," he said, adding that Moscow will have to apply a lot of skills "to play from the position of weakness and not lose."
But despite the uncertainty, many Russians looked at Trump's presidency with high hopes, and some nightclubs and bars called parties to celebrate the inauguration.
At one Moscow nightclub, several dozen people began toasting Mr Trump late Thursday.
Willi Tokarev, 82, a singer who emigrated to the US in the mid-1970s and later became a music legend in Russia, topped the entertainment bill with his song "Trumplissimo America!"
"Trump, Trump - symbol of America. Trump, Trump, he's really president," the mustachioed Tokarev sang on a tiny stage with the Russian and American flags hanging behind him.
Across from the US embassy compound in central Moscow, the Russian Army store put up a poster with Mr Trump's picture, offering inauguration day discounts of 10 per cent for Americans.
There is a broad feeling in Russia's political and business elites that relations with Washington just can't get any worse.
"Russia hopes that under Trump there will be no ideology, no attempts to lecture about democracy, human rights and rights of smaller nations around its borders ... but primarily deal with economic issues in a businesslike way and even tacitly divide spheres of influence," said Alexei Arbatov, a senior researcher with the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, a government-funded Moscow think-tank.
"Putin and Obama spoke different languages, they didn't understand one another. There is a hope that Trump and Putin will speak the same language, even though their positions may differ."
Leonid Slutsky, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, said in an opinion piece published Friday that "constructive approach and pragmatism have practically disappeared from the Russia-U.S. agenda during Obama's presidency."
Mr Medvedev, who served as president in 2008-2012 when Mr Putin had to shift into the premier's seat due to term limits, presided over a period of warmer ties during Mr Obama's first term. He sharply criticized the outgoing administration for ruining relations with Moscow by attempting to treat Russia like a "banana republic" and relying on "brute force and sheer pressure" in its dealings with Moscow.
"Conclusion: The Obama administration has destroyed relations between the United States and Russia, which are at their lowest point in decades," Medvedev said.
He denounced the sanctions the U.S. and its allies imposed on Russia over its action in Ukraine, saying that they "have reduced our cooperation to zero."
"It doesn't get any dumber than restricting entry to the United States for the leadership of the Russian parliament, ministers, and businessmen, thus deliberately reducing the possibility of full-fledged contacts and closing the window to cooperation," he said.
State TV stations carried flattering reports about Trump Friday, chronicling his business achievements and describing his ritzy lifestyle.
Senior Russian lawmakers spoke with disapproval about anti-Trump protests and criticized CNN for speculating about possible succession if Trump is assassinated in an attack on the inauguration day.
"That atmosphere shows us the flaws of Western democracy, particularly in the United States." ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky said in parliament.
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