Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday makes his first state-of-the-nation speech since succeeding Vladimir Putin, with attention focussed on rocky ties with the United States.

On his internet blog, Medvedev flagged the themes of the speech he was to make to the nation, saying it would address relations with rival neighbour Georgia, domestic economic issues and the global financial crisis.

Russia closely watched the US presidential election for clues on how the vote would affect currently tense relations between the former Cold War foes.

In a video clip on his blog, Medvedev, 43, stressed the US origins of the financial crisis and the fact Russia was not alone in feeling the fallout, as the crisis had `spread round the whole planet.`

He also emphasised the significance for Russia`s future of its military assault on Georgia in August, which centred on two Moscow-backed separatist territories and drew criticism from the West but no military intervention in defence of the pro-Western Caucasus state.

Referring to the issue as the `Caucasus crisis,` Medvedev said: `We cannot get around its consequences, consequences not only for our country, but for the global world order, the situation in the world as a whole.`

The speech in the grand surrounding of the Kremlin`s Saint George`s Hall is Medvedev`s first since succeeding Putin on May 7 and was due to give an overview of the current Russian leader`s thinking on a range of issues.

Controversy remains about how far Medvedev`s mentor, Putin, has relinquished power since he now holds the post of prime minister, heads the main political party and could conceivably make a come-back to the presidency.

Russia`s relations with the United States have severely deteriorated in the era of Putin and US President George W. Bush, putting in doubt cooperation on issues such as Iran`s nuclear programme and US and Russian nuclear weapons stocks.

Medvedev was due to speak at 0900 GMT.