China and France pledged deeper cooperation on global issues like the war in Ukraine and trade, as France prepares to take on the presidency of the Group of Seven next year.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with China's Xi Jinping on Thursday morning as part of a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomacy.

The Taliban government said Wednesday that the alleged shooting of two National Guard members, one fatally, by an Afghan man in Washington last month had nothing to do with Afghanistan.

"The person who committed this act was trained by the Americans themselves," foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a video published by his office, the first official Taliban reaction to the shooting.

Ukrainian and European officials on Wednesday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of faking interest in peace efforts after five hours of talks with U.S. envoys at the Kremlin produced no signs of a breakthrough, although negotiations were expected to continue.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Putin should "stop wasting the world's time."

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday he's weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December 2024.

Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former President Yoon Suk Yeol's ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon's removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with North Korea. But asked about North Korea's yearslong detentions of several South Korean nationals, Lee said he wasn't aware of the issue, drawing criticism from relatives who call for their safe return.

Belgium on Wednesday rejected a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help prop up Ukraine's economy and war effort over the next two years, saying that the scheme poses major financial and legal risks.

Ukraine's budget and military needs for 2026 and 2027 are estimated to total around 130 billion euros ($150 billion). The European Union has committed to fill the gap. It has already poured in over 170 billion euros ($197 billion) since the war started in 2022.

China on Wednesday blasted the U.K. government's latest delay in deciding whether to approve the construction of a huge Chinese Embassy in London.

U.S. President Donald Trump's push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine is intensifying.

Officials from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia have crisscrossed the globe in recent weeks in a flurry of meetings aimed at negotiating a deal. Here's a look at the key negotiators in those talks.

Emmanuel Macron arrived in China on Wednesday for a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomatic talks as the French president seeks to enlist Beijing in pressuring Russia toward a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Macron will advocate for an agenda of cooperation in economic and trade matters aimed at achieving a balance that ensures "sustainable, solid growth that benefits everyone," his office said.

Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Wednesday.

Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin in talks that began late Tuesday as part of a renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal. Both sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump summoned his top national security officials to the Oval Office on Monday to discuss Venezuela, as his counterpart Nicolas Maduro rejected a "slave's peace" amid mounting fears of American military action.