Obama says Moscow may try to influence US election

Asked if Moscow was trying to influence the presidential election, Obama told broadcaster NBC News: "Anything's possible."

He added: "What we do know is that the Russians hack our systems, not just government systems but private systems."

Obama told NBC News he “can't say directly” what the motives behind the leaks were, but added: "What I do know is that Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for [Russian leader] Vladimir Putin."

In the November US election, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will take on Hillary Clinton, who received the Democratic Party’s nomination on Tuesday.

Clinton’s campaign has accused hackers working for Russia of releasing the Democratic National Committee emails to sow discord in the party and help Trump.

Trump recently suggested the US may not automatically come to the aid of some NATO allies, despite the Western military alliance's principle of collective defence.

Interviewed by The New York Times, Trump suggested that if he becomes president he would take into account a country’s level of military spending in deciding whether the US would defend any NATO member that comes under attack.

NATO country leaders meeting in Warsaw for a 8-9 July summit of the alliance decided to deploy four multinational, rotating battalions to Poland and three Baltic countries, which all fear potential Russian aggression after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. (pk)