U.S. President Donald Trump has "deep concern" over Russia's armed seizure of three Ukrainian ships, the White House said Wednesday as Trump decides whether to cancel planned talks with President Vladimir Putin.

During a phone call between Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "the two leaders expressed deep concern about the incident in the Kerch Strait and the continued detainment of Ukraine's vessels and crew members," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

President Vladimir Putin insisted Wednesday that Russian forces were in the right to seize three Ukrainian ships last weekend, but President Donald Trump expressed "deep concern" at Moscow's actions against a U.S. ally.

Two in three people back the "yellow vest" protests in France, and nearly 80 percent reject measures proposed by President Emmanuel Macron as "insufficient", according to an opinion poll published Wednesday.

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday announced a 12-person team for prospective peace talks with the Taliban, as the U.N. renewed calls for direct negotiations between Kabul and the militants.

US President Donald Trump has said he may cancel a long-awaited summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after a confrontation at sea between Russia and Ukraine led Kiev to warn of the threat of "full-scale war".

Trump is scheduled to meet Putin at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires at the end of this week, but warned it would depend on the results of a report being prepared by his national security advisers about Russia's seizure of three Ukrainian ships.

Moscow will soon deploy more of its advanced S-400 air defence systems in Russian-annexed Crimea, a military official said Wednesday amid rising tensions with Ukraine.

Millions of Indians voted Wednesday in a state election seen as a key duel between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main rival before the whole country goes to the polls in 2019.

Modi's right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has governed the central state of Madhya Pradesh, home to 73 million people, since 2003 having won three state elections in a row.

Rights groups raised fears Wednesday after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced plans to create a "death squad" targeting suspected communist rebels, saying it would worsen the "calamity" triggered by his deadly drug war.

Georgians on Wednesday went to the polls in the second round of a knife-edge presidential election seen as a crucial test for the increasingly unpopular ruling party led by a billionaire oligarch.

Theresa May rebuked Donald Trump and insisted Britain could strike trade agreements outside the EU as she kicked off a nationwide tour on Tuesday to whip up support for the contested Brexit divorce deal.