Washington, Sept. 3 -- Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia, together with Western sanctions, are affecting the Russian economy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated, as Washington and Kyiv hold talks on arrangements that could enable Ukraine to produce advanced missile-defence systems.

Rubio made the remarks in an interview on Wednesday (local time) while speaking about Russia's backing for Iran and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

He said Russia faced its own difficulties that were occupying most of President Vladimir Putin's attention.

"Russia's got, and Putin's got his own set of problems that I think take up the majority of his time and focus, which is the war in -- with Ukraine, and frankly the impacts that these Ukrainia...