Moscow: President Dmitry Medvedev today hoped for better US ties under Barack Obama and reassured Russians over the economic crisis, in a television interview aimed at boosting his presidential stature.

Just weeks after powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had given a marathon end-of-year phone-in with the Russian people, Medvedev s wide-ranging interview appeared a pointed reminder he remains the Russian head of state.

He insisted that he made the decisions during Russia s war with Georgia over South Ossetia in August and said he was comfortable with the tandem with Putin, who was Russian president for eight years until May.

The majority of the interview was devoted to the economy, which remains the most pressing concern of Russians who fear wages will be unpaid and their jobs lost as a result of a drastic slowdown in growth.

"I believe that today there is no task more urgent than overcoming the after-effects of the global financial crisis," Medvedev said in the pre-recorded interview broadcast on Russia's main television channels.

"It's not the simplest situation, but there is no reason for any absolutely dramatic actions or hysteria, there is no basis to suggest that we must undertake any radical measures."

"Complications are of course possible, including some increases in the number of unemployed," he said, adding that currently around 6 per cent of active population was unemployed.

But "this is not a very high number, it is lower than in the United States, lower than in other countries."

Source : PTI