Sri Lanka, Feb. 9 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's name appears 1,005 times in the 3.5 million pages of correspondence linked to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, released by the US Department of Justice, which has renewed scrutiny over his alleged ties with Moscow. Documents show Epstein was seeking a meeting with Putin.

The files show Epstein expressed a desire to meet Putin on multiple occasions.

There is, however, no evidence in the files suggesting the two ever met.

Till 2017, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, was Epstein's regular contact from Moscow. Documents released by the Department of Justice show they both met regularly, and Epstein even offered to help Churkin's s...