Russia has dismissed allegations that it possesses compromising personal and financial information on Donald Trump as "utter nonsense".

It said the unsubstantiated dossier of a plot to obtain material on the President-elect to blackmail him if necessary was a "total fake" and aimed at damaging Russian ties with the United States.

:: Claims of Russian plot to compromise Trump

"The Kremlin does not have compromising information on Trump," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"It is an attempt to damage our bilateral relations, it is pulp fiction.


"You have to react to this with a certain humour, but there's also a sad side to this. Hysteria is being whipped up to maintain a political witch hunt."

Trump's 'fake news' claim over the Russian dossier

He also denied Russia possessed damaging material on Mr Trump's defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

It follows claims of Russian meddling in the election on the orders of President Putin to help Mr Trump win the White House race.

:: Did Russia spy on Trump when he was in Moscow?

The New York billionaire himself earlier dismissed the dossier - reportedly compiled by a retired British spy - as a "political witch hunt".

Questions have also been raised over his recent praise of Mr Putin and his cabinet nominations of some people seen as friendly towards Russia.

Mr Trump is due to hold a news conference later at Trump Tower, while his pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, faces tough questioning at his confirmation hearing over his close business relationship with Mr Putin.

Oil baron will be top US diplomat under Trump

The oil baron has also been a vocal critic of US sanctions against Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014.

However, he is expected to tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Russia poses a danger to the US and must be held accountable for its actions.

"Our NATO allies are right to be alarmed at a resurgent Russia," he will say, according to a statement released by the Trump team.

But at the same time he will also cite President Barack Obama's failure to act in Syria over the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons as a sign of weakness to Moscow.

"We backtracked on commitments we made to allies. We sent weak or mixed signals with 'red lines' that turned into green lights. We did not recognise that Russia does not think like we do," he will tell senators.

The Kremlin said it was unfazed by the reports, adding it was not wearing rose-tinted glasses regarding future relations with the 64-year-old Texan.

"We understand that Tillerson will continue to be quite tough in pursuing his line," said Mr Peskov.