US President-elect Donald Trump reportedly says: 'Let it be an arms race'

President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly spoken of an "arms race", the day after he said he wanted America to increase its nuclear capability.

MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski said that in a phone call with her, Mr Trump said:  "Let it be an arms race, because we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all." 

Responding to those comments, Mr Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, said: "Other countries need to be put on notice that he is not going to sit back and allow them to undermine our safety and our sovereignty." 

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he saw "nothing unusual" in Mr Trump's pledge to strengthen America's nuclear forces. 

Mr Putin also said the tycoon had won the American presidency because he "precisely felt the mood of society".   

"Nobody believed that he would win except us," he added.  

He also hinted at a possible trip to Washington. "If Trump invites me to travel to the United States, I will of course go," the RIA news agency quoted Mr Putin as saying. 

"(I expect) a change in our relations and a return to normal inter-governmental interaction in order to resolve the problems that face our country and the world, in the first instance in the areas of security and economic development," Mr Putin reportedly added.

Speaking at his annual end-of-year news conference, he also suggested that the Obama administration, and the Democrats in general, had sought to blame recent misfortunes on external factors such as Russia.

Mr Putin's country had been accused of meddling in the presidential election. 

Responding to that, he said: "They are losing on all fronts and are looking for the guilty party on the side. 

"That's beneath their dignity. You have to lose with dignity."

Quizzed about some Americans' apparent support for him, he said: "I don't put it down to me, the fact that a large part of Republican voters support the Russian president.

"It means that a large part of the American people have the same idea of how the world should be, of our common dangers and problems." 

Mr Putin told reporters: "It's good that there are people that sympathise with us in our concept of traditional values." 

The killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey, earlier this week, was "an attack on Russia-Turkey relations".

But Mr Putin said the attack would not damage cooperation between the two countries. 

Asked about the situation in Syria, he said: "The next stage should be a ceasefire on the entire territory of Syria and the launch of talks on a political settlement."

Discussing how this might come about, Mr Putin said the Turkish and Iranian leaders had agreed that such talks should be held in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.

Other countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia could contribute, he added, while the United States was welcome to get involved.

Mr Putin was also asked about doping in sport. "In this area transparency is absolutely essential," he said. 

"Sport should be cleansed, along with culture, of any sort of politics.

"Sport and culture are things that should unite people and not divide them."

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