MUNICH - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Sunday he welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's offer to talk directly with Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme.

"We welcome that," Ivanov told a news conference in the German city of Munich, referring to the U.S. offer.

Ivanov also said the new leaders who had come into office in the United States and Russia were capable of taking a new look at their bilateral problems.

"It is obvious that the new U.S. adminstration has a very strong desire to change and that inspires optimism," he said.