Russia has accused the United States and other Western powers of meddling in Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union to force pro-Western policies in Kiev.

The Russian president has accepted a formal invitation by his Chinese counterpart to visit China in October.

Senior Iranian and Russian officials decry foreign interventions by trans-national powers as the biggest cause of instability in the region.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in the Iranian capital of Tehran to hold talks with the Islamic Republic’s senior officials on the expansion of bilateral ties and counter-terrorism cooperation.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says the US military’s M1 Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine “soon” as part of Western aid aimed at helping Kiev defeat Russia.

Moscow denounces the European Union for enforcing a set of restrictions on Russians seeking to travel to the bloc.

After Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was dismissed earlier this month, the Ukrainian government decided to dismiss six deputy defense ministers on Monday.