MOSCOW - US-RUSSIAN relations will 'immediately' improve if positive signals from the new administration of Barack Obama are translated into action, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

'If these are not just words and translate into real actions, we will respond in kind and our American partners will immediately feel this,' Mr Putin said in televised remarks.

'We hope very much there will be positive changes. Right now we are seeing some positive signals,' he said in response to a question about how he saw the future of US-Russian ties.

Citing US sources close to Mr Obama, Mr Putin said the new administration would not push for rapid admission of Georgia and Ukraine into the Nato military alliance, which Moscow fiercely opposes.

'On the expert level, speaking to people who are very close to the newly elected president and his circle... we are hearing that there is no reason to hurry with this. That there is no reason to damage relations with Russia.'

The new US administration also appeared cautious about deploying a controversial missile defence system in Eastern Europe, heavily pushed by outgoing US President George W. Bush despite Russian opposition, said Mr Putin.

'We are hearing that there is a need to re-evaluate the appropriateness of deploying... the missile-defence system in Poland and the corresponding radars in the Czech Republic,' he said.

Moscow has fiercely opposed the Pentagon's plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Europe, despite US assurances that they were not directed against Russia but were meant to protect against Iran.

The US-Russian relationship has been extremely frosty since the August war between Russia and its southern neighbour Georgia, a close US ally.

This week however the Nato military alliance agreed to resume high-level talks with Russia and turned down membership bids by Georgia and Ukraine, moves that have been welcomed by Moscow. -- AFP