Medvedev, U.S. Ex-Senators Talk Of Better Ties

The meeting comes before a first meeting between Medvedev and new U.S. President Barack Obama.

A delegation of U.S. ex-senators pressed for better relations between Moscow and Washington during talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday, the latest in a series of high-level contacts.

The fact Medvedev met former senators Gary Hart and Chuck Hagel -- whose rank does not automatically qualify them for a Kremlin audience -- appeared to be a sign Moscow welcomed moves from Washingtom to relaunch their troubled relationship.

The meeting comes before a first meeting between Medvedev and new U.S. President Barack Obama, expected to take place on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in London on April 1.

The Obama administration has said it wants to press the "reset" button to stop a dangerous drift in relations with Russia.

Medvedev re-iterated to the former senators that he hoped for a new start in relations with Washington under Obama. "Recently, our relations have been seriously degraded," Medvedev said.

"The signals, which I have received from President Obama, sound positive to me.

Hart said he and Hagel were in Moscow as part of a bipartisan commission on U.S.-Russia relations which would present a report on its visit to Obama next week.

"What brought us together is the feeling that the relationship between our two countries was not in the interests of the United States," said Hart at the start of talks.

"We hope to build a base in our country that will give support to the new administration in its efforts to improve that relationship," Hart said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week for talks that were intended to soften the atmosphere between their capitals before Medvedev and Obama meet in London.

Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington have fallen to their lowest since the Cold War in the past twelve months over Russia's war with Georgia and U.S. plans to install a new anti-missile system in Eastern Europe.

Hagel is a Republican who crossed party lines to back Obama in last year's presidential election. Before Obama's inauguration Hagel had been mentioned in the U.S. media as a possible candidate for a senior job in the new administration.