Relations getting ‘worse and worse’

President Vladimir Putin said relations between Moscow and Washington were getting worse and worse, noting in an interview published yesterday that the current US administration had imposed dozens of sanctions on Russia.

Putin made his gloomy assessment ahead of a G20 summit in Japan later this month at which he might meet US President Donald Trump.

US-Russia ties remain strained by everything from Syria to Ukraine as well as allegations of Russian interference in US politics, which Moscow denies.

"They (our relations) are going downhill, they are getting worse and worse," Putin told the Mir TV channel, according to a Kremlin transcript.

The Russian leader contrasted Moscow's troubled relationship with Washington with what he described as its blossoming ties with China, a deepening strategic friendship that has alarmed some US policymakers.

Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the United States would have "a great relationship with Russia," but pledged to deploy 1,000 US troops to Poland, a step sought by Warsaw to deter potential aggression from Russia.

In another move certain to rankle with Moscow, Trump said on Wednesday he was considering sanctions over Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project and warned Germany against being dependent on Russia for energy.