The Kremlin said Thursday that a face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin needed to be organized "promptly", after the two presidents held a lengthy phone call the day before.

"There is definitely a need to organize such a meeting quite promptly, the heads of state have a lot to talk about," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Several NATO allies stressed on Thursday that Ukraine and Europe must not be cut out of any peace negotiations as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the United States is betraying the war-ravaged country.

European governments are reeling after the Trump administration signaled that it is planning face-to-face talks with Russia on ending the Ukraine war without involving them, insisted that Kyiv should not join NATO, and said that it's up to Europe to protect itself and Ukraine from whatever Russia might do next.

Armenia's parliament on Wednesday approved the first reading of a bill launching the country's bid to join the European Union as the ex-Soviet state moves away from its historical ally Russia.

"Expressing the will of the people of Armenia, having set the task to make Armenia a safe, secure, developed country, Armenia announces the start of the EU accession process," the bill read. It was approved by 63 votes for, while seven deputies voted against.

NATO countries in Europe need to invest "considerably more" on defense, alliance chief Mark Rutte said Wednesday, as the new U.S. defense secretary arrived to push Donald Trump's demands to up spending.

"We need to do a lot more so we have what we need to deter and defend. And so that there is more equitable burden sharing," Rutte said.

Marc Fogel, an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia, has been released and returned to the U.S. in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, left Russia with Fogel and brought him to the White House, where Trump greeted him.

Russia on Wednesday rejected swapping occupied territory with Kyiv in any peace deal, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky floated the idea.

"This is impossible. Russia has never and will never discuss the topic of exchanging its territory," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, ruling out Zelensky's idea of a swap involving Ukrainian-held parts of Russia's western Kursk region.

Ukraine has offered to strike a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump for continued American military aid in exchange for developing Ukraine's mineral industry, which could provide a valuable source of the rare earth elements that are essential for many kinds of technology.

Trump said that he wanted such a deal earlier this month, and it was initially proposed last fall by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as part of his plan to strengthen Kyiv's hand in future negotiations with Moscow.

Many countries had their worst showing in more than a decade in an index released Tuesday that serves as a barometer of public sector corruption worldwide, from leading powers such as the United States and France to authoritarian nations such as Russia and Venezuela.

Transparency International, which compiles the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, found that 47 countries out of the 180 it surveyed had their lowest score last year since it started using its current methodology for its global ranking in 2012. It said of its 2024 survey that "global corruption levels remain alarmingly high, with efforts to reduce them faltering."

Turkish police on Tuesday detained 10 senior officials of district municipalities in Istanbul over their alleged links to Kurdish militants, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported, widening a crackdown on opposition-held districts in the city.

The detainees include the deputy mayors of the districts of Kartal and Atasehir, along with eight district municipal council members, Anadolu reported. All suspects are members of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP.

Iran's president has accused his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump of seeking to bring the Islamic republic "to its knees" as the country marked the 1979 revolution that toppled the shah.