Moscow, Dec 5 (IANS): Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the US President-elect Donald Trump "a smart man" and expressed his confidence in the latter's adaptation to the new role.

"The fact that Trump managed to achieve success in business suggests that he is a smart man," Putin said in a television interview on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"He is smart, that means he will fully and quite quickly be aware of a different level of responsibility," Putin said.

"We assume that he will act based on this position," Putin added.

The Russian President was among the first world leaders who sent congratulations to Trump as soon as the result of the US election was announced on November 8.

During their first call, both sides agreed the current ties between Russia and the US "could not get worse" and vowed to help "stimulate a return to pragmatic, mutually beneficial cooperation," a Kremlin statement said.

However, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also pointed out on November 23, that it would be a "difficult process and definitely not a quick one" for the two sides to normalise their battered ties.