MOSCOW, RUSSIA - President Dmitry Medvedev said he expected the visit to Moscow next week of his US counterpart Barack Obama to open up new prospects for US-Russia relations.

"We expect that concrete results will be reached at the summit which will open up new prospects for the development of our relations," Medvedev said in a statement to mark US Independence Day released by the Kremlin.

"I sincerely hope that with our mutual efforts... Russia-US relations can be brought to a new level of quality."

Obama is to arrive in Russia on Monday to mend ties frayed by a series of disputes and agree a deal on the transit of US military goods to Afghanistan as well as a framework on replacing a key Cold War-era missile treaty. --AFP