Trump receives Christmas wishes in a letter from Putin

New York [USA], Dec. 24 (ANI): U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has shared a letter he received from Russian President Vladimir Putin to wish him "warmest Christmas and New Year greetings." The letter also urged the next president "to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation". "A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct. I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path," CNN quoted Trump as saying in a statement. In the translation of the December 15 letter provided by the Trump team, Putin wrote that "serious global and regional challenges, which our countries have had to face in recent years, show that relations between Russia and the US remain an important factor in ensuring stability and security of the modern world." Putin continued, "I hope that after you assume the position of the President of the United States of America, we will be able -- by acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner -- to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas as well as bring our level of collaboration on the international scene to a qualitatively new level." Meanwhile, at his annual year-end news conference on Thursday, Putin said that the US and Russia "need to discuss ways to normalize our relations. During his election campaign, Trump said it would be proper to normalize and it can't be worse, and I agree with him." There he also accused the Obama administration and the Democratic Party of trying to blame its failure in the U.S. election on outside factors, adding he always knew that Donald Trump would win. He also dismissed all accusations of Moscow's interference in the U.S. election. (ANI)