The White House scrambled to get a message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last year after U.S. intelligence agencies said a Russian military unit was preparing to send explosive packages on cargo planes.

Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's team delivered a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to Russian intelligence's suspected plans to smuggle incendiary devices onto U.S.-bound cargo planes,

Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin about planned Russian sabotage actions on transatlantic routes, reports the "New York Times." According to the newspaper, Russian operatives planned to place self-igniting courier packages on planes flying to the USA and Canada.

Sweeping U.S. sanctions on Russia's oil industry will make it more expensive for Moscow to sell its oil and complicate sea-borne crude exports due to restrictions on tankers, analysts and traders said on Monday.

U.S. and global benchmark crude-oil prices settled Monday at their highest since August as investors focused on the potential supply hit from further tightening of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil sector.

For Russia, the return of Donald Trump provides a chance to end western sanctions against it, and provide solace for its appalling war losses.

Russia says it has detected a shift from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his team towards recognising the "realities" on the ground in Ukraine, and sees this as a welcome sign as it prepares to study his plan for ending the war.

Before the conflict , Russia had demanded a legal guarantee that Ukraine be denied NATO entry, knowing the alliance has never excluded pote