Trump 'hurts' US-Mexico ties: president

Mexico City : US presidential contender Donald Trump's inflammatory comments on Mexico "hurt" ties between the two neighbors, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Monday.

"I condemn these kinds of statements. It seems to me they hurt a relationship that Mexico has sought with the United States of bridges, of dialogue, of rapprochement, of seeking solutions to shared problems," he told newspaper El Universal in an interview.

"It seems to me (such statements) come from an ignorance of Mexico."

Trump, who leads the race for the Republican nomination, has railed against immigrants and especially immigration from Mexico, accusing the country of sending drug dealers and rapists to the United States.

The flamboyant billionaire has repeatedly vowed to build a wall along the border and make Mexico pay for it -- a proposal Pena Nieto's government has emphatically rejected.

The Mexican leader said, however, that he would seek a "constructive dialogue" with whoever is elected the next US president on November 8.