Obama urges better Russia ties

President Barack Obama today appealed to the Russian people to join the United States in overcoming past differences and building…

President Barack Obama today appealed to the Russian people to join the United States in overcoming past differences and building a prosperous democratic future free of corruption and the threat of nuclear war.

Broadening his message of a "reset" in relations between the two former Cold War superpowers on the second day of a visit to Moscow, Mr Obama said citizens, business people and companies all had a part to play in improving ties and boosting trade.

"America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia," he told students at Moscow's New Economic School. "Look to the future that can be built if we refuse to be burdened by the old obstacles and old suspicions".

Mr Obama was careful in his speech, billed by the White House as a major setpiece, to avoid direct criticism of the Kremlin, where he agreed on Monday an arms-cutting package and permission for US troops to cross Russia en route for Afghanistan.

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Instead, the US president emphasised in his public appearances US ideals such as prosperity, democracy and the rule of law, sending a more nuanced message.

"People everywhere should have the right to do business or get an education without paying a bribe," Mr Obama said in his speech to students, making an oblique reference to Russia's ingrained culture of corruption.

The students, many sceptical of the United States after the chaos wrought by "wild East" capitalism in the post-Soviet period, listened politely to Mr Obama in a hall near the Kremlin used mainly for official events but showed little enthusiasm.

Their reaction reflected a theme of Mr Obama's visit - a generally low-key reception by Russian media and ordinary citizens. Opinion polls show a majority of Russians mistrust the United States and believe it abuses its power.

Mr Obama tried to mend fences with Russia's most powerful politician, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, during a breakfast meeting at Mr Putin's forest dacha which lasted around two hours.

The US leader had upset Mr Putin before travelling to Moscow by describing him in an interview as a man with one foot planted in the old ways of doing things. But he went out of his way on Tuesday to praise Mr Putin's "extraordinary work".

Mr Putin, a former KGB spy who was president between 2000 and 2008 before handing over the Kremlin job to his hand-picked successor Mr Medvedev, looked uncomfortable before the meeting but both sides said afterwards that it had gone well.

A senior US administration official said Mr Putin and Mr Obama had a "very interesting and open discussion", though they had disagreed on some issues.

Yesterday, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Mr Obama agreed deals on a target for cuts in nuclear arms, a deal to let US troops fly across Russia to fight in Afghanistan and the establishment of a joint governmental commission to improve relations between the two former rivals.

As on some other foreign trips, Mr Obama's remarks were modest for a US leader, avoiding lecturing his audience or claiming he had all the answers.

"I think it's very important that I come before you with some humility," he told opposition leaders. "I think in the past there's been a tendency for the United States to lecture rather than to listen. And we obviously still have much work to do with our own democracy".

Reuters