Russia's Putin welcomes Obama victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin's welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election and hopes it will have a positive impact on ties with the United States, his spokesman told Russian news agencies on Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said Moscow was ready to take cooperation with the U.S. government as far as Washington was willing to go.

"We will continue to work with this administration," Lavrov was quoted as saying by RIA news agency in an interview with a Russian newspaper. "We are ready, on the basis of mutual equality, mutual profit and mutual respect ... to go as far as the U.S. administration is willing to go."

(Reporting By Alissa de Carbonnel, Editing by Timothy Heritage)