Putin regrets deteriorating US-Russia ties, blames 'anti-Russia hysteria'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he "very much regrets" the worsening of relations between Russia and the United States.

"It is a great pity that Russian-American relations are being sacrificed to this domestic, internal American issue," Putin said at a news conference in Savonlinna, Finland.

"What we are seeing (in the US) is merely anti-Russia hysteria," Putin said, in response to a question from CNN about the state of the relationship in light of the investigation in the US Congress into allegations of Russian election meddling and possible tightening of sanctions.

"...the election of the US president, it is not our business, and it is not up to us to assess what he does in this very senior post, that's up to the US public," Putin said.

"As far as the investigation is concern, I don't actually think it is an investigation because an investigation implies a full study and analysis of the situation. What we see is merely a growth of anti-Russian hysteria ... for domestic policies between President Trump and his political opponents, so it's an internal problem."