A senior Kremlin official says that the Russian police and National Guard will remain in eastern Ukraine's Donbas to oversee the prized industrial region, even if a peace settlement ends the nearly four-year war — a possibility that is likely to be rejected by Ukrainian officials as U.S.-led negotiations drag on.

Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine's forces have withdrawn from the front line, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said in comments published Friday in Russian business daily Kommersant.

Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday hosted a U.S. envoy for talks in the Belarus capital of Minsk, the latest step in the isolated leader's effort to improve ties with the West.

Lukashenko met with U.S. special envoy for Belarus John Coale, according to state news agency Belta and the presidential press service. The press service said the talks would continue Saturday.

Germany summoned Russia's ambassador Friday following accusations of sabotage, cyberattacks and election interference, an official said.

The German government has also accused Moscow of perpetrating disinformation campaigns.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan and caused small tsunami waves but no apparent damage Friday, days after a stronger quake in the same region.

Friday's quake occurred off the east coast of Aomori prefecture, in the north of Honshu, the main Japanese island, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) at 11:44 a.m., according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which issued a tsunami advisory that was lifted about two hours later.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that negotiators are wrestling with the question of territorial possession in U.S.-led peace talks on ending the war with Russia, including the future of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the world's 10 biggest atomic plants.

Zelensky revealed details of the ongoing discussions before he headed Thursday into urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that support Kyiv's efforts to obtain fair terms in any settlement to halt nearly four years of fighting.

More than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group escalated its offensive in the South Kivu province in eastern Congo, regional officials said, adding that Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira.

M23's latest offensive comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington. The accord didn't include the rebel group, which is negotiating separately with Congo and agreed earlier this year to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating. However, it obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups and work to end hostilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to hold urgent talks Thursday with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that support Kyiv's efforts to obtain fair terms for halting nearly four years of war following Russia's full-scale invasion.

The leaders of Germany, Britain and France were among those expected to take part in the meeting of Ukraine's allies, dubbed the Coalition of the Willing, via video link.

South Sudan said Thursday it had come to an agreement with warring parties over a key oilfield in Sudan's southern Kordofan, near the country's border, after the site was seized by paramilitaries.

Information minister Ateny Wek Ateny told a press conference that "a tripartite agreement has been reached" between South Sudan's army, the Sudanese army, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which grants the South Sudanese "the primary security responsibility over the Heglig Oil field, also known as Panthou, amid rising tension".

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in public for the first time in 11 months Thursday after a daring escape from her homeland when she emerged from a hotel balcony in Norway's capital and waved to an emotional crowd of supporters cheering for the new Nobel laureate.

Her appearance in Oslo came hours after her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf. Machado was recognized after mounting the most serious peaceful challenge in years to the authoritarian government of Venezuelan President President Nicolás Maduro.

President Donald Trump said that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Using U.S. forces to take control of a merchant ship is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration's latest push to increase pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States. The U.S. has built up the largest military presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The campaign is facing growing scrutiny from Congress.