Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov smiles as he arrives for a signing ceremony following a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2016 (SPIEF 2016) in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 17, 2016. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin is heading to the United States this week as Moscow’s representative at the World Chess Championship, Interfax news agency cited the aide as saying.

Visits to the United States by senior Kremlin officials have been rare since Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict two years ago.

The trip by Dmitry Peskov, who is Putin’s press secretary and deputy head of the presidential administration, was announced on the day the U.S. presidential election was won by Donald Trump, who has promised to improve strained ties with the Kremlin.

But Interfax quoted Peskov as saying he was planning no contacts with U.S. officials during his trip and was not planning to pass on any message from Putin to Trump. Peskov is head of the board of trustees of the Russian Chess Federation.

The chess tournament is taking place in New York City, a few blocks from Trump Tower, where the president-elect has his office.