During the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of his ties with the Kremlin. Moscow has always denied supporting Trump, but his victory is seen in the country as positive for US-Russia relations.

"We understand that it will be difficult if we take into account the degradation of relations between Russia and the United States. It is not our fault that Russian/American relations are in poor state. But Russia is ready and wants to restore the fully pledged relations between Russia and the US," Putin said.