Vice President Pence said President Trump is determined to "reassert" America's leadership on the world stage amid questions over Trump's comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The statements that he made were not in any way of moral equivalency between the high ideals and practices of the American people and the people of Russia," Pence told Fox News.

"But rather what the president is seeking to do is to begin anew, a relationship with the people of Russia and with their leadership to say, 'Are there ways that we can begin to work together?'"

Pence said the country faces "very serious challenges."

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"The truth is, we have to develop new coalitions and new partnerships to confront radical Islamic terrorism. And particularly, Russia and the United States have a common enemy in ISIS," Pence said.

"The president's made a priority of pulling together the world and the resources of the United States to hunt down and destroy ISIS so it can no longer threaten us or inspire violence here in the homeland."

President Trump said during an interview that aired Sunday night he respects Putin, noting it's better to get along with Russia. But Trump said during the interview he has "no idea" if he'll get along with Putin.

During the interview, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly pressed Trump, saying: "But he's a killer though. Putin's a killer."

"There are a lot of killers. We've got a lot of killers. What, you think our country is so innocent?" Trump responded.