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"Well, if Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability.  Because we have a horrible relationship with Russia. Russia can help us fight ISIS, which by the way, is number one tricky… I don't know that I am going to get along with Vladimir Putin. I hope I do, but there is a good chance I won’t," he said.

"And if I don’t, do you honestly believe that Hillary would be tougher on Putin than me? Does anybody in this room really believe that? Give me a break," he continued.

Read alsoKremlin denies having compromising materials on TrumpIn an earlier statement delivered in Trump's traditional manner, that is via Twitter, he wrote: "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!"

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Read alsoPotential Kerry successor admits Russia occupied CrimeaIt was earlier reported that the classified part of the report presented by the U.S. Intelligence community last week to Barack Obama and Donald Trump included statements that Russian intelligence allegedly had compromising material [“kompromat”] on the U.S. President-elect. The report also allegedly claimed that Trump campaign managers were in contact with the Russian intelligence services.