Troubles around Trump have hit US-Russia relations: Putin

He had high hopes when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election in the US for he hated Clinton and thought Trump would make a more meaningful president for Russia. But that Russian President Vladimir Putin's expectations were not fulfilled became evident on Friday, May 25, when he rued Moscow's continuing troubled relations with Washington because of the persistent disputes around President Trump, Associated Press reported.

Speaking at a meeting with top editors of international news agencies, Putin said Russia is in favour of improved relations with the US but it is finding itself to be held hostage by the controversies around Trump, the report added.

Trump personally wants to have good relations with Russia and is often accused of taking Moscow leniently, but his administration has yet taken strong steps against Russia like imposing sanctions and expelling its diplomats and even conducting missile strike against its ally Syria in West Asia. For Russian political leadership, however, Trump is more compelled by the opposition at home which bars him from fulfilling his campaign promises of improving relations with Russia.

Putin also said at an annual economic forum that Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran deal of 2015 was dangerous and said it came even when the international nuclear watchdog said that Iran was fulfilling its obligations, the AP report added.

It also cited Putin saying that the US should not take a hard line with North Korea, a country with which it is in the middle of negotiations, although he did not agree to assess relations between Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, the report said.

Trump is currently facing a lot of uneasy circumstances at home over the allegations of his campaign's collusion with Russia which is charged of interfering in the 2016 presidential election. A special investigation is being done by former FBI chief Robert Mueller since May 2017 and Trump has time and again shown his disregard for it, even calling it a "witch hunt".