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 has 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 board planes flying to the USA and Canada.

Chinese and Indian refiners are seeking alternative fuel supplies as they adapt to severe new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and tankers that are designed to curb the revenues of the world's second-largest oil exporter.

India intends to abandon oil tankers that have been sanctioned by the United States because of their role in transporting goods for Russia, which is another example of the impact of Washington's measures on the global oil market.

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.

MOSCOW — Russia’s top diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow is open for talks with President-elect Donald Trump and praised him for pointing to NATO’s plan to embrace Ukraine as a root cause of the nearly 3-year-old conflict.