Alalam - Russia

Putin said he had no problems meeting Trump at any time, but thought it would be better if the president-elect first formed his administration.

He added the Kremlin was in favour of normalising relations with the United States.

A picture taken on December 7, 2016 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin as he plays with his Yume, an Akita dog prior to an interview with Nippon Television Network Corporation Executive Director Takayuki Kasuya (L) and Yomiuri Shimbun Editor in Chief Mizoguchi Takeshi in the run-up to his official visit to Japan. AFP PHOTO

"It is well known, widely known, that the president-elect of the United States is publicly in favour of a normalisation of Russia-US relations. We cannot not support this. We are of course in favour of this, and as I have already said publicly - we understand that this won't be an easy task, bearing in mind the degree of degradation in current Russian-American relations. But we are ready to fulfil our part," said Putin in an interview with Japanese media in Moscow.

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