Russian President Vladimir Putin began a meeting with three US envoys late on Thursday to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Six people were wounded, two of them critically, in a knife attack at a Kurdish demonstration in the city of Antwerp Thursday, Belgian police said.

A US military aircraft carrier strike group and other assets will arrive in the Middle East region in the coming days, two US officials said on Thursday, even as US President Donald Trump voices hopes of avoiding new military action against Iran.