Story highlights Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov says Vladimir Putin wants "mutually beneficial relations" with US

"Our bilateral relations are at the bottom so it's hard to make them worse," Peskov says

US President-elect Donald Trump touted better ties with Russia as a key foreign policy goal of campaign

Moscow (CNN) Russia hopes to resume dialogue and bring relations with the US "back to a constructive course," according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, who said it would be "hard to make them worse."

Asked by journalists about the Kremlin's links with the US, Peskov said: "I'd like to remind you of President Putin's words -- numerous times he has talked about his wish to build good, mutually beneficial relations based on mutual respect and equality."

"The President always said he expected a reciprocity from Washington," Peskov added. "Now we know that our bilateral relations are at the bottom so it's hard to make them worse, but we certainly hope for resuming a dialogue and we'll start a difficult and slow process of bringing the relations back to a constructive course."

Improving US ties with Russia was a key plank of US President-elect Donald Trump's foreign policy during the election campaign.

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