The Russian authorities accused six British diplomats of spying and said they would be expelled, as tensions between Moscow and the West grow during an intensified push by Ukraine to loosen restrictions on using weapons provided by the U.S. and Britain to strike Russia.

The head of Russia's Security Council Sergei Shoigu met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday, Moscow said, weeks after the Kremlin signed a defense pact with Pyongyang.

The visit comes as Moscow seeks ammunition to continue its more than 30-month offensive in Ukraine and as the West accuses Pyongyang of sending arms to Moscow.

Russia on Thursday claimed to have recaptured a swath of territory in its western Kursk region, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded Moscow's troops were mounting a counter-offensive.

Kyiv launched a shock incursion into Russia's Kursk border region on August 6, advancing kilometers into Russian territory and seizing dozens of settlements.

Iran's government on Thursday summoned the envoys of Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands over their accusations that Tehran supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine.

State-run IRNA news agency reported that the country's foreign ministry summoned the envoys separately on Thursday to strongly condemn the accusations.

The United States and Britain pledged nearly $1.5 billion in additional aid to Ukraine on Wednesday during a visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats as Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas to use Western-provided missiles against targets deeper inside Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced more than $700 million in humanitarian aid, while British Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed that his country would provide another $782 million in assistance and loan guarantees. Much of the effort was aimed at bolstering the energy grid that Russia has repeatedly pounded ahead of an expected difficult winter.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived Thursday in Iraqi Kurdistan to meet the autonomous region's leaders, on the second day of a visit aimed at deepening ties with the neighboring country.

It is Pezeshkian's first foreign trip abroad since he took office in July.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a three-nation, Ukraine-focused European tour in Poland after hearing repeated appeals from Ukrainian officials to use Western-supplied weaponry for long-range strikes inside Russia.

Blinken traveled to Warsaw on Thursday after spending a day in Kyiv with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during which they pledged to bring the Ukrainian requests to their leaders.

Russia shot down three drones over its northern Murmansk region on Wednesday, more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Ukraine, the regional governor said.

"All three drones in the Murmansk region were shot down," Governor Andrey Chibis said in a post on Telegram, after earlier reporting the region was "under attack from enemy drones".

Former President Donald Trump spoke heatedly in the presidential debate about wanting Russia's war in Ukraine to be over — but twice refused to directly answer a question about whether he wanted U.S. ally Ukraine to win.

Trump also falsely claimed Tuesday that the war had killed "millions" since Russia invaded Ukraine 2 1/2 years ago, while the United Nations says 11,700 civilian deaths have been verified. Trump also claimed without evidence that Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, had bungled a diplomatic mission just days before Russia launched the invasion.

Kamala Harris put Donald Trump on the defensive in a fiery televised debate Tuesday, getting under her rival's skin as they battled for a breakthrough in an agonizingly close U.S. presidential election.