'Let it be an arms race': Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump has said, "Let it be an arms race", commenting one day after he called for expanding the country’s nuclear weapons capability.

Trump made the remarks in an interview with MSNBC on Friday, after he was asked to clarify an earlier tweet in which he reiterated his plans to strengthen and expand the US nuclear arsenal.

"We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all," the incoming president said, refusing to specify which countries he was referring to.

In a Thursday post on Twitter, Trump said that the US must "greatly strengthen and expand" its stock of atomic weapons until "the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," apparently responding to comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said hours earlier that his country needed to boost its nuclear forces.

“We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems,” Putin said.

"We must carefully monitor any changes in the balance of power and in the political-military situation in the world, especially along Russian borders, and quickly adapt plans for neutralizing threats to our country," he added.

"We can say with certainty - we are stronger now than any potential aggressor. Anyone!" the Russian president noted.

Pointing to Trump’s recent comments, a spokesman for his transition team said the president-elect aimed to ensure that other countries such as Russia and China would not step up their nuclear capabilities. Putin, however, said there was nothing uncommon in Trump's nuclear comment.

The US currently has an arsenal of about 7,000 nuclear warheads, second only to Russia, which has a few hundred more.

Washington and Moscow finalized New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) five years ago. The nuclear arms reduction treaty was signed in 2010. The treaty entered into force in 2011 and is expected to last at least until 2021.

Nearly 26 years after the end of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union, Washington and Moscow reportedly still have some 2,000 atomic weapons ready to fly at a moment’s notice to destroy each other.

'A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin'

In a separate development on Friday, Trump released a letter he said was sent by Putin, who had urged bilateral cooperation and better relations between Moscow and Washington.

“Serious global and regional challenges, which our countries have to face in recent years, show that the relations between Russia and the US remain an important factor in ensuring stability and security of the modern world,” Putin allegedly wrote in the letter dated December 15.

“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,” he noted.

In an accompanying statement, the US president-elect said he hoped both countries could "live up to these thoughts" rather than "have to travel an alternative path."

"A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin, his thoughts are so correct. I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path,” Trump said.

Relations between Moscow and Washington hit their post-Cold War lows after Crimea re-integrated into the Russian Federation following a referendum in March 2014. Ties further deteriorated when Moscow last year launched an air campaign against Daesh terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the CIA to fight against the Syrian government.

Trump repeatedly said during his presidential campaign that his administration would seek closer ties with Russia. Reports also said Trump had ordered that Russia be removed from the list of countries Washington sees as its major adversaries which pose a threat to the US.

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