Russian officials meet US counterparts as Moscow denies aiding Iran

Kremlin spokesperson says talks are part of ‘​necessary dialogue’ with Washington as war in Ukraine continues for a fifth year.A delegation of Russian officials has arrived in ‌the United States for meetings with their American counterparts.The visit, which began on Thursday, marks the first such trip since ⁠relations strained over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Russia hits Ukraine with rare daytime barrage as new offensive beginslist 2 of 3Russian weapons, tactics seen in Ukraine are shaping Myanmar’s civil warlist 3 of 3Russia, Ukraine tit-for-tat attacks knock out power for over half a millionend of listKremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We hope that these first tentative steps will, of course, make their contribution to the further revival of our bilateral engagement.”He said President Vladimir Putin had set the “main directives” for the trip and would be “thoroughly briefed” on the meeting.The visit comes as US-brokered talks seeking a deal to end the war in Ukraine are in effect frozen.Several rounds of negotiations since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year have failed to break the deadlock, with the Kremlin ruling out compromises to halt its years-long offensive.Russia, a close ally of Iran, has also been cited by Western intelligence officials as one of the backers of the Iranian government, as Tehran fights a war launched by the US and Israel.A report in the United Kingdom-based Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday alleged that Russia was close to completing a shipment of drones to Iran.Responding to questions about the report, Peskov said, “There are so many lies being spread by the media … Do not pay attention to them.”Russia this week carried out one of the largest aerial attacks since the start of its war on Ukraine, launching 948 drones in 24 hours as it moved troops and equipment to the front line.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a new appeal for allies to supply Kyiv with air defence munitions, warning that Kyiv, which relies on the US for air defence systems against ballistic missiles, will face a deficit of missiles while Washington is focused on the US-Israeli war on Iran.