Donald Trump on Friday said that he doesn't like recently approved laws in Russia that discriminate against gays but remains opposed to marriage equality here in the United States.

Over the summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws which prohibit foreign gay couples from adopting Russian-born children and the public promotion of gay rights where minors might be present, effectively shutting down public demonstrations of support. Russia's “gay propaganda” law has provoked worldwide protests and calls for a boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Openly gay MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts will host the upcoming Miss Universe pageant to be held in Moscow.

In a recent op-ed, Roberts explained that he wanted to go to Russia to let “people see I am no different than anyone else.”

“All kids – Russian, American or otherwise – need hope,” Roberts wrote. “I am a happy, healthy, gainfully employed, educated and married man. And yes, I am gay. These new Russian laws won't stop Russians from being born LGBT and growing up to identify as such. Russia's treatment of its LGBT citizens is unacceptable, unrealistic and only promotes homophobia and intolerance for a community that does and will continue to exist.”

Appearing on MSBNC, Trump, who acquired the pageant in 1996, said that he doesn't like Russia's recent anti-gay campaign.

“Well, I don't like it,” Trump told Roberts. “I don't like what that is all about and, as you know, and I think you probably feel very similar to me, we can go over there and maybe make a difference.”

“You can avoid it, and that's one way of handling it, or you can go over and perhaps make a difference,” he added.

But when Roberts asked, “So does that change any of your prior public stances on marriage equality here in the US?” Trump answered, “No.”

“No, it doesn't change,” Trump answered. “I just think it's – you are a wonderful guy. NBC felt very strongly, they came to me and explained it to me, and I agreed immediately, as you probably heard. It wasn't – you know, I didn't put up a fight. In fact, I was very honored. I think you're going to do fantastically, and I love the fact that you feel the same about the whole situation as me.” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)

Trump added that Putin had expressed interest in attending the pageant.

(Related: George Takei says Russia should be punished over anti-gay law, but opposes boycott.)