Russia is willing to work with Donald Trump's incoming administration to improve relations if the U.S. has serious intentions to do so but it is up to Washington to make the first move, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.

Ukraine has claimed to have struck a Russian industrial facility producing fuel for missiles, as Moscow says it has foiled several assassination plots on senior officers.Kyiv said on Thursday that its air force had had carried out a strike in Russia’s Rostov region on a factory which was used to produce solid fuel for ballistic missiles used in attacks on Ukraine.

Eugene Spector was already serving a sentence for a bribery conviction when he was charged with spying, for which a court ordered him to serve an additional 13 years.

Russia is willing to work with Donald Trump's incoming administration to improve relations if the US has serious intentions to do so but it is up to Washington to make the first move, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday suggested a missile 'duel' with the United States that would show how Russia's new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile could defeat any U.S. missile defence system.

Russia has warned its citizens to not visit the US since relations with Washington are confrontational, claiming that they could risk being "hunted" by American authorities.

Russia now views arms control over the vast nuclear arsenals that were built up during the Cold War to be a thing of the past due to the lack of trust between Moscow and the West, Russia's top general said on Wednesday.

Eugene Spector, who was already serving a 3½-year sentence in Russia for bribery, received the additional sentence after being charged with espionage last year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Monday more than 3,000 troops from North Korea have been killed so far fighting next to Russian forces.

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, tensions between the military alliance, which supports Kyiv in its defense efforts, and the Kremlin have continued.

Leaders of Finland, Latvia and Estonia tell The Independent that Ukraine’s victory over Russia is vital to the defence of a poorly armed Europe