Putin's adviser: Nothing is happening to improve Russia-US relations

"Why comment on something so absurd? How can the US president be an agent of another country?", President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said after a journalist asked whether Trump worked for Russia, according toAFP.

Ushakov said that Russia-US relations "are at rock bottom" and "nothing is happening to improve the situation".

The New York Times reported that Trump was suspected by the FBI of working for Russian interests after he fired the FBI director last year. US counterintelligence investigators apparently considered whether Trump's actions posed a national security threat. The White House denied the reports and called them "absurd".

The Washington Post on January 12 quoted US officials as saying they did not have detailed records of the five private meetings between Trump and Putin. The US newspaper said the White House boss had made "extraordinary efforts" to keep the exchange with his Russian counterpart secret. The White House said the news was inaccurate, asserting that Trump had a tougher stance on Moscow than his predecessors.

Trump also denied the allegations. "I never worked for Russia and you know that, and to even ask the question is an insult. It's all a big hoax," he said on January 14.