Donald Trump on Letter From Vladimir Putin: ‘His Thoughts Are So Correct’

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday released a letter he received from Vladimir Putin and praised the Russian president by saying “his thoughts are so correct.”

“A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct,” Trump said in a statement, along with the letter, which is dated Dec. 15. “I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path.”

In the attached letter—which is marked as an unofficial translation—Putin wished Trump well and said he hoped to “bring our level of collaboration on the international scene to a qualitatively new level.”

At his annual news conference Friday, Putin dismissed accusations from U.S. intelligence officials that Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election. Putin also said Russia was not seeking a new nuclear arms race, the New York Times reported, after Trump said Thursday that the U.S. should “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.”

“Serious global and regional challenges, which our countries have to face in recent years, show that the relations between Russia and the U.S. remain an important factor in ensuring stability and security of the modern world,” Putin wrote in the letter as released by Trump.

“I hope that after you assume the position of the President of the United States of America we will be able—by acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner—to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas as well as bring our level of collaboration on the international scene to a qualitatively new level.”