Trump suggests he would consider lifting sanctions on Russia if Moscow helps the US

President-elect Donald Trump in a Wall Street Journal interview published on Friday said he's open to lifting sanctions on Russia if he feels satisfied with the relations between the two countries.

"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 in an hour-long interview with the Wall Street Journal.

He said he plans to keep the sanctions "for a period of time."

Trump tweets "only stupid people" think having a good relationship with Russia is bad.

More from the interview

Trump said he might do away with the sanctions if Russia helps the US battle terrorists or with other goals important to the US.

The sanctions were implemented by the Obama administration last month after the intelligence community concluded the Kremlin interfered in the U.S. election.

Trump also said he would be willing to meet with Vladimir Putin soon after his inauguration.

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday announced a bipartisan investigation into Russian intelligence activities, including looking into whether Trump's allies were in contact with the Kremlin.

It was also reported that Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser, had five phone calls with Russia's ambassador the day the United States retaliated for Moscow's interference in the U.S. presidential election, sources told the Associated Press.

Sean Spicer confirmed the calls happened, but insisted they took place before sanctions.