U.S. National Security Council

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to speak on Thursday in their first phone call since an Israeli strike on a humanitarian convoy killed seven aid workers in Gaza.

Ukraine said Friday there was fierce fighting in the beleaguered frontline city of Avdiivka and that it was preparing new positions around the industrial hub as Russia steps up attacks.

Ukraine has rushed soldiers to the embattled eastern town of Avdiivka, surrounded on three sides by Russian forces, where the military said the situation was "extremely critical".

Negotiations to pause the Israel-Hamas war and free the remaining hostages headed into a second day in Cairo yesterday, as displaced Gazans braced for an expected Israeli assault on their last refuge of Rafah.

North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine in a major escalation of support for Moscow, the White House said Thursday.

Russia is also looking to obtain missiles from its ally Iran as it runs short of arms nearly two years into President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, it said.

The U.S. military carried out strikes on three sites used by Iran-backed forces in Iraq on Monday after an attack wounded three American personnel earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

The United Nations Security Council was due to vote Wednesday on a much-delayed resolution calling for a pause to the Israel-Hamas war after members wrangled over wording while aid efforts in the Gaza Strip neared collapse.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza was rapidly deteriorating, with a senior U.N. official saying Israel's steps to allow in aid were "far short" of mounting need.

Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza City Thursday as soldiers battled street-by-street with Hamas militants, and tens of thousands of Palestinians desperate for safety fled their homes southwards in the besieged territory.

John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator of the U.S. National Security Council says the Russians have faced a number of problems in Ukraine to which they themselves largely contributed.

Referring to her sources, Fiona Hill, former official at the U.S. National Security Council specializing in Russian and European affairs, added that a peace agreement could have been reached as early as April.

Britain has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of plotting to install a pro-Russian politician at the head of the Ukrainian government, British media reported.

The British Foreign Office has made an unusual move, pointing to former Ukrainian MP Yevheniy Murayev as a potential Kremlin candidate.