Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored the importance of maintaining close ties with the United States on Thursday, saying Washington had stood by its ally during the Middle East war.

The European Union has reached out to Moscow in a tentative bid to open a line of communication so the continent is not sidelined in any potential talks to end Russia's grinding war in Ukraine, officials said Thursday.

The news emerged as Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, Russian officials said Thursday. A major Moscow oil refinery was hit for a second time in a week and commercial flights at Moscow airports were disrupted.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed Russia's ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as he hosted a summit intended to strengthen economic and political ties with the bloc.

The leaders who took part in the meeting in Kazan agreed to further expand "strategic partnership" between Russia and ASEAN nations that include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at NATO allies on Thursday, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe whose outcome will depend on how fast the Europeans take responsibility for their own security.

"This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe," he told his NATO counterparts in Brussels.

President Donald Trump is not known to be a fan of international gatherings of world leaders, but he changed his tune at this year's G7 summit at a French Alpine resort, where he was buoyed by support from his counterparts for his tentative agreement with Iran to end the war.

It was an about-face for Trump, who weeks ago had sharply criticized his counterparts for refusing to join the United States and Israel in bombing Iran to force it to abandon its nuclear aspirations — and who last year spent only a day at the G7 summit before cutting out early and going back to Washington.

Ukraine hit a Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week and disrupted commercial flights at Moscow airports in one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia's invasion more than four years ago, Russian officials said Thursday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that its air defenses overnight shot down 555 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, with almost 200 intercepted as they were approaching the Russian capital.

Below is the full text of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, as delivered by a senior U.S. administration official in a briefing with reporters:

(Because the official read the deal to reporters and the print text has not been released, this transcript may be inexact, for example in terms of punctuation.)

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he expected the accord with Iran ending the Middle East war to be signed "shortly" but cast uncertainty over the exact date.

Tehran's foreign ministry on Wednesday said it was considering a plan for the presidents of the U.S. and Iran to sign the deal ending the Middle East war, ahead of the expected ceremony in Switzerland.

Germany and Poland are set to sign a new defense agreement on Wednesday, putting aside their complicated past to strengthen European military cooperation amid heightened tensions with Russia and growing uncertainty over U.S. engagement in Europe.

Relations between the two neighbors in recent years have become more pragmatic in the wake of Russia's full‑scale war on Ukraine in 2022 and the coming to power of a liberal government in Poland in 2023.