President Vladimir Putin today played down recent hawkish statements from Moscow and said Russia was not interested in a return to the cold war.
Mr Putin 's criticism of Nato expansion and US plans for a missile defence shield, as well as Moscow's decisions to rebuild Russia's defence capability, have been trademarks of his presidency.
President Vladimir Putin
But in his last annual news conference before leaving the Kremlin in May, Mr Putin struck a more conciliatory note.
"To suppose that we aspire to return to the times of the cold war is just too bold a supposition," Mr Putin said in the Kremlin's Round Hall.
"We are not interested in this. Our main tasks are internal development, the solution of social and economic problems of the country."
Russia was willing to work "towards the construction of a positive dialogue" with whoever won the US presidential election and did not intend to target any country with its nuclear missiles except in "extreme necessity", he said.
He repeated Russia's opposition to Western plans to let the Serbian province of Kosovo declare independence, however.
Answering questions about what would happen after the presidential election next month, Mr Putin (55) said he never wanted to cling to power for life and would be happy to relinquish the presidency to his trusted ally Dmitry Medvedev, the overwhelming favourite to win the March 2nd vote.
"There is a personal chemistry, I trust him," Mr Putin said. "This is a person to whom it is not shameful and not frightening to hand over the leadership of the country."
Mr Putin also rejected as "rubbish" accusations that he had amassed a huge fortune during his eight years in power. "I am rich because the people of Russia twice entrusted me with leading a great country like Russia. I believe this is my greatest wealth," Mr Putin said.