"They [Russians] are not our friends but there are areas where we can cooperate with the Russians", O'Brien said at a security summit. "We’d like to get an arms control deal with them".
O’Brien said he delivered a strong message to his Russian counterpart on election interference. He said China, Iran and other countries are also looking to influence the US elections.
"When it comes to our elections, we are going to keep a close eye on it," he said. "I think we are going to do fine come 3 November but it’s something we have to keep an eye on".
Last week, O'Brien met with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in Geneva to discuss a number issues, including arms control, cybersecurity, elections non-interference, counterterrorism, the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Syria, Afghanistan among others.