Russian political elites revel in Trump's inauguration

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials and lawmakers lauded Donald Trump's inauguration Friday, hoping it will herald a period of better ties with the United States, while revelers in Moscow and elsewhere gathered for celebrations as bar and club owners sought to cash in on public excitement.

Trump's promises to fix ravaged relations with Moscow have elated Russia's political elite amid spiraling tensions with Washington over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. elections.

"Russia hopes that under Trump there will be no ideology, no attempts to lecture about democracy, human rights and rights of smaller nations around its borders ... but primarily deal with economic issues in a businesslike way and even tacitly divide spheres of influence," said Alexei Arbatov, a senior researcher with the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, a government-funded Moscow think-tank.

Andrei Kuzyaev, a Russian oil tycoon who now heads ER Telecom, a leading broadband provider, said he expects Trump to "switch from political propaganda to action."

Leonid Slutsky, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, said in an opinion piece published Friday that "constructive approach and pragmatism have practically disappeared from the Russia-U.S. agenda during Obama's presidency."