AKIPRESS.COM - U.S. President Donald Trump, standing alongside the leaders of three Baltic countries most concerned about the potential for aggression from Moscow, on Tuesday said he thought he could have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.

Trump, at a news conference after meeting the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, told reporters “it’s a real possibility that I could have a good relationship” with Putin, but acknowledged it was not a certainty.

“Getting along with Russia is a good thing,” Trump said. “I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin, and if I did, that would be a great thing. And there’s also a great possibility that that won’t happen. Who knows?”

Trump reiterated his belief that “nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have,” noting he has pushed for increased defense spending to bolster the U.S. military and has aggressively pushed energy production, enabling the United States to become an exporter in competition with Russia.

“We’re essentially now energy-independent. We’re an exporter of energy. That is not a positive for Russia,” Trump told reporters.

“We are going to have a military stronger than we’ve ever had before by far,” he added. “That’s not exactly a great thing for Russia.”