Replying to journalists' questions in the Urals city of Izhevsk, he said relations with the United States after President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated in January would not start with "a blank page."
"We have a foundation of relations with the United States, we are partners, our views often diverge but still we have to cooperate," the Russian president said. "We believe chances were missed in some cases, but we are not to blame."
In his address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on Saturday, which followed a summit of the Group of 20 rich and emerging economies focused on the financial crisis, Medvedev said he looked to better days in bilateral ties when President-elect Barack Obama enters office.
"We welcome the election of Barack Obama, and count on him to take steps to overcome the problems that have built up in Russian-American relations," he said. "I believe that currently Russian-U.S. relations lack the trust that they need."
Medvedev's speech to the council came in sharp contrast to his state of the nation address, a day after Obama's election victory, when the Russian leader blamed Washington for the conflict with Georgia over South Ossetia and pledged to deploy tactical missiles near Poland in response to U.S. missile shield plans.
