Iran and the United States will hold the next round of talks on the Islamic republic's nuclear program in Rome later this week, Tehran and mediator Oman said.

The arch-foes have held four rounds of nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between them since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal during his first term.

President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the area last month, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

Putin visited the region bordering Ukraine the previous day, according to the Kremlin.

A suicide car bomber struck a school bus in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing five people — including at least three children — and wounding 38 others, officials said, the latest attack in tense Balochistan province.

The province has been the scene of a long-running insurgency, with an array of separatist groups staging attacks, including the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, or BLA, designated a terror group by the United States in 2019.

The Kremlin on Wednesday rejected Ukrainian and European accusations that it was stalling Ukraine peace talks saying it plans to name its conditions for a ceasefire, but did not give a time frame.

"Nobody is interested in dragging out this process. Everyone is working dynamically," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question about when a "memorandum" announced by Putin can be expected. "Separately, there will be a list of conditions for a ceasefire. This was agreed at Istanbul talks," he said, without saying when either would be published or passed to Kyiv.

The Kremlin said Wednesday that Donald Trump's plan for a "Golden Dome" missile shield required consultations with Russia but was otherwise a "sovereign matter" for the U.S., softening its tone after previously slamming the idea as destabilizing.

"This is a sovereign matter for the United States. If the United States believes that there is a missile threat, then of course it will develop a missile defense system," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding the plan would require resuming nuclear talks with Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced new details and initial funding for his "Golden Dome" missile shield system, with geopolitical rival China accusing Washington on Wednesday of undermining global stability.

Crude prices rallied Wednesday following a report that U.S. intelligence suggested Israel was planning a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, which would send geopolitical tensions into overdrive and fuel regional conflict fears.

While safe haven gold pushed almost two percent higher, the news from CNN appeared to be having little detrimental effect on Asian equities, with most extending the previous day's rally.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Tuesday of delaying peace talks in a bid to pursue its three-year invasion, even as US President Donald Trump pushes for an immediate ceasefire.

Trump spoke by phone on Monday to both Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, while Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct talks on the conflict in more than three years.

The EU on Tuesday formally adopted a new round of sanctions on Russia targeting its "shadow fleet" of oil tankers and threatened more punishment for Moscow not agreeing a Ukraine truce.

"The EU has approved its 17th sanctions package against Russia, targeting nearly 200 shadow fleet ships," European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X.

Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday pushed back against U.S. criticism of the country's nuclear program, saying that Tehran won't seek permission from anyone to enrich uranium and calling American statements "nonsense."

"They say, 'We won't allow Iran to enrich uranium.' That's way out of line," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a memorial for late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year. "No one in Iran is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies and direction — and it will stick to them."