NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump finally admitted that he believes Russia was behind the hacks on the Democratic National Committee and promised Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be doing so in the future.

"As far as hacking, I think it was Russia," Trump said during his New York City press conference Wednesday.

"We'll have to work something out, but it's not just Russia," Trump said.

Tump blamed the DNC for not taking the proper precautions to avoid a hacking but asserted that in the future, countries will have "greater respect" for the U.S.

When asked by a reporter what he would say to Putin about the hackings, Trump responded:

He shouldn't be doing it. He won't be doing it. Russia will have much greater respect for our country when I'm leading it then when other people have led it.

Russia will respect our country more.

"All countries will respect us more than under past administrations," he said.

Trump did not respond to the other part of the reporter's question, which asked if any of his political advisors had been in touch with Russian officials throughout the campaign.

Earlier in the press conference, Trump said a good relationship between him and Putin would be a good thing for the country.

"If Putin likes Donald Trump — guess what, folks — that's called an asset, not a liability," he said, adding that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton would not have been tougher on the Russian leader than he will be

The real estate tycoon had previously declined to blame Russia for the hacks that exposed supposed bias in the DNC.