Mooscow - Russia does not expect that ties with the United
States will improve immediately now that President Donald Trump has
taken office, a spokesman said Saturday.
"It would be a great mistake to indulge in any illusions," Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia 1 television, according to
Interfax news agency.
The relationship with Washington will not be free of contradictions
and differences of opinion in future, Peskov was quoted as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to call Trump in the
coming few days, but a meeting had not yet been planned, he said.
Trump said on Friday ahead of his swearing-in ceremony that he hoped
to improve Washington's relationship with Moscow. Bilateral relations
are currently at their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War.
Washington has accused the Kremlin of trying to influence the US
election in November using cyberattacks.
Peskov denied accusations that Trump was in any way supported by
Moscow. "He is not our man; he is an American," he said.