Barack Obama has refused to rule out that Russia could be trying to sway the upcoming US elections.
US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that despite US differences with Russia the two countries should continue to try and work toward joint conflict resolution in Syria and Ukraine.
"We've already got a lot of differences with Russia," Obama told journalists at the White House. "But I think that we've been able to try to stay focused on those areas where we still have a common interest."
Diplomatic ties between Russia and the US have spiraled downwards since President Vladimir Putin's return to power in 2012.
Despite what Obama called a "tough and difficult relationship" with the Kremlin, he emphasized that the United States would continue to push "Russia and those separatists to lay down arms and stop bullying Ukraine."
"It's not going to stop us from trying to make sure that we can bring a political transition inside of Syria that can end the hardship there."
Obama has refused to rule out that Russia could be trying to sway the upcoming US presidential vote in favor of Donald Trump by leaking Hillary Clinton's emails, which the Kremlin has denied.
"There are a lot of countries out there that are trying to hack into our stuff," Obama said. "Governmental databases but also private sector databases and not for profit databases."
On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia to "restrain" itself and the government in Syria as fierce fighting there continues and the city of Aleppo remains under government siege.
Russia and the United States are nominally co-chairs of an international effort to bring Assad's regime to the negotiating table with armed opposition groups.
Kerry said the government's attacks had prevented the warring parties from renewing talks on August 1, the target date set for the regime and opposition forces to agree on the framework of a political transition.