An odd new front in the US-Russian rivalry has emerged as a Russian military cargo plane bearing a load of urgently needed medical supplies landed this week at New York’s JFK airport.

Russia cast it as a magnanimous aid contribution to a struggling country in need — its old Cold War rival. The State Department insisted that Wednesday’s shipment was a mere commercial transaction: that the US had paid Russia for the supplies it needed and they were certainly not a gift.

Yet President Donald Trump on Thursday referred to the shipment as “aid,” and said the United States had accepted “a very nice offer” from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Amid the contradictory claims and vague explanations, the details of the shipment — its exact contents and cost — were not immediately clear.

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