Russia-US

"An agreement was essentially reached to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days, that is, a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump," Ushakov said.

While India has emerged as a key partner for Washington in its strategic rivalry with China, its large US trade surplus and close relations with Russia have made it a target in Trump's tariff war.

Witkoff held around three hours of talks with Putin in the Kremlin, two days before the expiry of a deadline set by Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine.

Trump, who warned that he would impose sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine before Friday, had said earlier that Witkoff might be traveling to Moscow this week.

Tensions have risen between Russia and the US in recent days due to Trump's decision to send nuclear submarines to the area over the weekend.

The Pentagon said it was providing President Donald Trump with options to continue military aid to Ukraine in line with the goal of ending Russia's war there.

Trump admitted to a group of private donors at his Florida club last week that finding a solution for the Israel-Hamas conflict had been a challenge as  “they’d been fighting for a thousand years.”

INSS gives recipe for calibrated confrontation with Moscow to reduce support for Iran, Houthis, Hamas without leading to conflagration

US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Putin in St. Petersburg to discuss a Ukraine peace deal and a potential Trump-Putin summit.

The bleak assessment from Moscow comes amid the disintegration of the tangle of arms control treaties which sought to slow the arms race and reduce the risk of nuclear war.

Some officials in other allied countries played down the idea that Trump's policies on Russia would disrupt intelligence cooperation that dates back decades.