Russia’s Foreign Ministry says it has suggested restoring direct air links between Russia and the United States during the latest round of consultations with Washington.

Russian and U.S. teams held six hours of talks in Turkey on Thursday to try to restore the normal functioning of their embassies, and President Vladimir Putin said initial contacts with Donald Trump's new administration had inspired hope.

Russia on Friday said it had suggested restoring direct air links with the United States at what it described as substantive and businesslike talks in Turkey. Russia’s Foreign Ministry, however, did not say how the US side had responded at Thursday’s meeting in Istanbul,

Russia’s FSB security service said on Friday it had arrested two church figures suspected of plotting to kill a priest close to President Vladimir Putin on the orders of a Ukrainian spy

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday it had foiled an attempt by Ukraine's military intelligence service to assasinate Tikhon Shevkunov, a senior priest in Russia's Orthodox Church.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday that it had thwarted an alleged Ukrainian plot to assassinate a senior Russian Orthodox Church figure. Metropolitan Tikhon Shevkunov, 66, a member of President Vladimir Putin's advisory council on culture and the arts,

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned "Western elites" against trying to sabotage a potential rapprochement between Russia and the United States, saying Moscow would use its diplomats and intelligence services to thwart such efforts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the FSB security service on Thursday that initial contacts with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump gave grounds for hope. Putin said in televised comments that Russia and the United States were ready to establish cooperation but some Western elites would seek to undermine the dialogue between them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the invasion of Ukraine, claimed that European nations are attempting to interfere with the dialogue between Russia and the United States. He also noted that the initial discussions with the U.