In the hour-long interview on Friday, Trump said he is willing to keep the sanctions that the Obama administration recently imposed on Russia "at least for a period of time."

Trump stated, however, that he would consider lifting the restrictions, depending on how helpful the Russians are in the fight against terrorism, as well as assisting with other goals that he feels are important to the US.

"If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody's doing some really great things?" Trump said.

The president-elect added that he would be prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin once in office.

"I understand that they would like to meet, and that's absolutely fine with me," Trump said.

When asked about the 'One China' policy – which involves diplomatic acknowledgement that there is only one Chinese government – Trump said that he would not be opposed to ending the long-standing agreement the US has taken over China-Taiwan relations.