"We discussed our continuing concern with Russian meddling in elections, and why it was particularly harmful to Russian-American relations, without producing anything for them in return. And we had lengthy conversations about arms control issues, the new strategic landscape and the president's decision on the INF treaty," Bolton told reporters after his meeting with Putin.
The senior official also noted that though there were no facts proving Russia's alleged meddling in the US elections, the situation created distrust.
On INF Treaty
According to Bolton, the US was a long way from a final decision on the deployment of the US missiles in Europe, following the country's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
"We're a long way from any decision on those kinds of questions," Bolton told reporters at a press conference following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
"The problem is, there are Russian INF-violating missiles in Europe now. The threat is not American withdrawal from the INF treaty, the threat is the Russian missiles already deployed," he added.
"On the conceptual possibility of universalizing the treaty, yes, that is something we thought of as far back as 2004, and some efforts were made to see if it might be possible to extend the treaty… but they all failed," Bolton said.
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At the same time, the official noted that the US has been discussing the possibility of a modified INF treaty with Russian partners since 2004, but it's still impossible to implement these ideas yet.
On Talks With Russian Officials
Speaking about the meeting with Vladimir Putin, Bolton said that they avoided mutual accusations and opted for a serious and thorough discussion.
"The discussion have covered the whole range of issues differing in certain respects depending on who we were speaking with from the Russian side… As President Putin said in the opening of the meeting today… it would be useful to continue direct dialogue with the President of the United States primarily on the fields of international events that will take place in the near future," Bolton said on Tuesday at a news conference in Moscow.
During talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bolton said that Donald Trump would like to meet with him on the sidelines of the upcoming international meeting in Paris.
In addition, both sides voiced a number of initiatives, the implementation of which could contribute to creating an atmosphere of trust and strengthening cooperation between Moscow and Washington.
