LONDON (AP) -- World leaders said they hope Dmitry Medvedev will help bring more democracy to the vast nation and repair relations damaged during Vladimir Putin's presidency.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown congratulated Medvedev and emphasized that he wanted to repair relations that sank to a new low after the Kremlin refused to hand over the suspect in the 2006 poisoning death of ex-Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko in London.
Litvinenko's killing led to retaliatory expulsions of diplomats in both countries. The Kremlin accuses the British Council, a cultural organization, of being an espionage front and forced two of its offices in Russia to close.
""We will judge the new government on its actions and the result of its actions,"" Brown's spokesman Michael Ellam said.
President Bush's administration said it looked forward to working with Medvedev.
""It's in our mutual interest for Russia and the United States to work together on areas of common interest such as nonproliferation, counterterrorism and combating transnational crime,"" National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he hoped that under Medvedev's leadership, Russia and the European Union could develop a relationship based ""on respect for the values to which we both declared our commitment.""
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica congratulated Medvedev on his ""great victory"" and praised Russian as ""a guardian of the basic principles of the international law.""
Russia has backed Serbia by refusing to recognize Kosovo's independence.
Leaders in Finland and Sweden hoped relations would improve. And in South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki offered his support on ""the daunting task of consolidating democracy and good governance.""
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said Monday that he expects to see a constructive relationship with Russia following the election of Medvedev as the country's new president, Xinhua reported.
In an interview with the Itar-Tass news agency, Kirkilas also expressed hope that the development of such a relationship will be unaffected by any lingering disputes.
In a separate statement, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said Russia is an important partner and expressed hopes for the further development of bilateral cooperation.
According to Russia's Central Election Commission, the country's first deputy prime minister won a landslide victory in Sunday's election, gaining 70.23 percent of the votes, with 99.45 ballots counted.
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said also on Monday he hopes the election of Medvedev as Russia's new president will bring better ties between the two countries.
Ilves said his country wants to have constructive, pragmatic and good-neighborly ties with Russia on the basis of mutual benefit and mutual respect. Estonia hopes to open dialogue with Russia for that purpose, he added.
The Estonian leader also hopes Russia will improve relations with the West.
Russian riot police clashed on Monday with opposition protesters who tried to hold an rally in Moscow against the election of Medvedev.
Opposition leader Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who attended a separate rally in the northern city of St. Petersburg, said 250 people had been detained in Moscow.