US National Security Adviser John Bolton held talks in Moscow with Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday, days after US President Donald Trump threatened to exit a landmark nuclear arms pact between the two Cold War superpowers.

In comments released after his meetings, Bolton denied Russian allegations the US was using the threat of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) withdrawal to blackmail Russia.

Washington had not yet taken any decision on deploying missiles in Europe targeting Moscow in the event that the INF treaty is scrapped, Russia's RIA news agency quoted Bolton as saying.

He said Russia was violating its commitments under the pact, an allegation Moscow has denied.

In any case, he added, a bilateral treaty no longer met today's realities because unlike in the Cold War, multiple states are now developing intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

He said the Trump administration will take the next step to consult with Russia as well as countries in Europe and Asia. 

The alleged Russian meddling in US 2016 elections was also on the table.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia carried out a campaign of hacking and propaganda targeting the presidential election in an attempt to sow discord, disparage Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and aid Republican Donald Trump's candidacy. Russia has constantly denied any such meddling.

Bolton told the Russian side the meddling did not have any effect on the outcome, but it did "sow enormous distrust of Russia." The US Department of Justice and Congress are investigating the interference and any possible collusion by Trump's campaign. Trump has repeatedly denied there was any collusion. "The point I made to Russian colleagues today was that I didn't think, whatever they had done in terms of meddling in the 2016 election, that they had any effect on it, but what they have had an effect in the United States is to sow enormous distrust of Russia," Bolton told Russian media.

Bolton also called the meddling "a major obstacle" to achieving agreement on issues where the two countries have a shared interest. 

Speaking of US sanctions on Iran, Bolton said the sanctions against Tehran has already had an impact on the global oil market and that both the US and Russia would benefit from the sanctions policy.

He said, "It's true that Russia, as an oil exporter, will benefit from rising oil prices. And we benefit as oil producers. But in time, the market will level off."

Since it quit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the US has been seeking to maximize pressure on Tehran to change its behavior. 

Bolton met Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday. Bolton said he had been sent to Moscow with the task of "deepening and strengthening" dialogue with Russia. 

"Today, there are a large number of problems in the world that we could solve through joint efforts," Shoigu said in comments carried by the RIA Novosti agency. 

Shoigu mentioned "strategic questions linked to nuclear deterrence as well as to the solution of major, long-running conflicts."

The minister said the first summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin this summer had shown ties between the two countries were gradually being reestablished.

(With inputs from Reuters and AFP)