A letter U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Iran's supreme leader in an attempt to jump-start talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program has arrived in the Iranian capital.

While the text of the letter hasn't been published, its arrival comes as Trump has levied new sanctions on Iran as part of his "maximum pressure" campaign targeting the country. He also suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached.

Kuwait has released a group of American prisoners, including veterans and military contractors jailed for years on drug-related charges, in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill between two allies, a representative for the detainees told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the Trump administration's top hostage envoy, and comes amid a continued U.S. government push to bring home American citizens jailed in foreign countries.

Top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Thursday that any Ukraine peace settlement must secure Russia's "interests", and that President Vladimir Putin would probably give his opinion on a 30-day U.S. ceasefire proposal later.

"That is what we are striving for. A peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country," Ushakov said. "The President will probably make more specific and substantive assessments."

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Wednesday that U.S. military aid deliveries to neighboring Ukraine through Poland have resumed to previous levels following U.S.-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.

Last week, Washington halted military assistance to war-torn Ukraine after a public clash in the White House between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

When protests over the Israel-Hamas war took root on Columbia University's campus last spring, Mahmoud Khalil became a familiar, outspoken figure in a student movement that soon spread to other U.S. colleges.

The international-affairs graduate student was a fixture in and around the protest encampment on Columbia's Manhattan campus, serving as a spokesperson and negotiator for demonstrators who deplored Israel's military campaign in Gaza and pressed the Ivy League school to cut financial ties with Israel and companies that supported the war.

China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills Tuesday in the Middle East, offering a show of force in a region still uneasy over Tehran's rapidly expanding nuclear program and as Yemen's Houthi rebels threaten new attacks on ships.

The joint drills, called the Maritime Security Belt 2025, took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude oil traded worldwide passes. The area around the strait in the past has seen Iran seize commercial ships and launch suspected attacks in the time since President Donald Trump first unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.

The Kremlin said Wednesday it was waiting for the U.S. to inform it about the details of a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine that Kyiv agreed to after talks in Saudi Arabia.

"We assume that Secretary of State (Marco) Rubio and Advisor (Michael) Walz through various channels in the coming days will inform us on the negotiations that took place and the understandings reached," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding Moscow did not rule out a "high-level" phone call with the US.

Iran confirmed Wednesday it will hold talks this week with China and Russia on its nuclear program, after Beijing announced it would host the meeting.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement the three-way talks on Friday would focus on "developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions".

Iran's top diplomat said Wednesday an Arab country will soon deliver it a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called for striking a nuclear deal with the Islamic republic.

"The letter has not reached us yet but an envoy from an Arab country is set to deliver it soon in Tehran," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Russia has taken back control of five villages previously occupied by Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, its defense ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said its army units had "liberated the settlements of Kazachya Loknya, 1st Knyazhy, 2nd Knyazhy, Zamostye and Mirny" in the Kursk region.