VLADIMIR Putin's government was in touch with Donald Trump’s team during the presidential race, Russia confirmed today.

The controversial revelation is likely to enrage anti-Trump figures who accused the businessman of growing too close to Moscow.

4 Donald Trump's campaign team was in touch with Vladimir Putin's camp during the US Presidential Election, Moscow has confirmed Credit: Getty Images

4 Putin praised Trump in the build-up to the vote, while the businessman returned the compliment Credit: Reuters

President-elect Trump, who has praised ex-KGB man Putin as a strong leader, was accused by defeated Democratic contender Hillary Clinton of being Putin's puppet.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the Kremlin had been in touch with The Donald’s team, Reuters reported Thursday.

“There were contacts,” the Russian Interfax news agency cited Ryabkov as saying. “We are doing this and have been doing this during the election campaign.”

He also said Russia had “sporadic” contact with Clinton’s campaign — though it was “not always productive.”

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“Obviously, we know most of the people from (Trump’s) entourage. Those people have always been in the limelight in the United States and have occupied high-ranking positions,” he said without providing names.

“I cannot say that all of them, but quite a few have been staying in touch with Russian representatives. We have just begun to consider ways of building dialogue with the future Donald Trump administration and channels we will be using for those purposes,” he said.

Trump has shot down suggestions that he had ties to Moscow during his bruising campaign for the White House.

4 US President Barack Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Putin share a tense moment at the G20 Summit earlier this year Credit: Getty Images

His campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks on Thursday denied there were interactions between Russia and the Trump team before Tuesday’s election.

“The campaign had no contact with Russian officials,” she told the Washington Post in an email.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Bloomberg News that Russian embassy staff met with members of Trump’s campaign — which she described as “normal practice.”

She later provided a revised interpretation of Ryabkov’s remarks, saying he was likely referring to meetings between Russian diplomats and US officials who supported Trump — rather than campaign staffers, the Washington Post reported.

The FBI has opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations that Trump or his associates might have had questionable dealings in Russia, but found no evidence to warrant opening a full probe, sources told Reuters.

4 Trump met with Obama today as the pair try to ensure a smooth transition. The two have suffered a fraught relationship during the election campaign Credit: AP:Associated Press

The US government has blamed Russian hackers for cyber attacks on Democratic Party organisations and for infiltrating the email account of Clinton’s campaign chief, John Podesta.

The emails were released by WikiLeaks during the final weeks of the presidential campaign in what Clinton backers said was an effort to derail her White House bid.

The Russian parliament cheered Wednesday when it heard that Trump had been elected. Putin told foreign ambassadors he was ready for better ties with Washington, with which his country has been at odds over Syria, Ukraine and NATO.

Trump met with President Barack Obama at the White House today as Melania Trumpwas showed around the living quarters by Michelle Obama.

Many Democrats are now speculating that the outgoing First Lady could launch her own bid for the presidency in 2020.