Almost three dozen countries will meet Thursday in an effort to exert diplomatic and political pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that has been choked off by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the virtual meeting chaired by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper "will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and to resume the movement of vital commodities."

An undersea magnitude 7.4 earthquake toppled buildings in parts of northern Indonesia, sent people fleeing from their homes, killed at least one person and generated a small tsunami Thursday.

Strong shaking lasting 10 to 20 seconds was felt in Bitung in North Sulawesi province as well as in Ternate city in neighboring North Maluku province, according to the Disaster Management Agency. The provinces border the Molucca Sea, where the quake was centered.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards insisted on Wednesday that the strategic strait of Hormuz will remain closed to the country's "enemies" as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would only consider a ceasefire if it was reopened.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran has asked for a ceasefire but that the United States would only consider this once the Strait of Hormuz is clear for shipping.

Iran's president "has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday France had not been consulted and wasn't taking part in the war against Iran, after U.S. leader Donald Trump criticized the country's overflight ban on planes carrying military supplies for the conflict.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called NATO "the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen" Wednesday following renewed criticism of the group by U.S. President Donald Trump.

"It has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to NATO," Starmer told a press conference, after Trump told the UK's Telegraph newspaper that the alliance was a "paper tiger".

U.S. President Donald Trump told The New York Post on Tuesday that he believes the Iran war is likely to end soon and that other nations can reopen the Strait of Hormuz themselves — after he posted to social media a video of huge explosions near Isfahan that he said hit “a lot of stuff.”

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the next days of the Iran war will be "decisive" while refusing to rule out U.S. ground forces playing a role in the conflict.

Russia has not seen "clearly formulated" proposals from Ukraine about a temporary ceasefire over the Easter holidays, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested a truce on Monday, saying Kyiv was ready for a mutual halt in attacks on energy facilities to ease a global oil crisis triggered by the Iran war.

Top European diplomats visited Ukraine on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of atrocities committed in a town near Kyiv by Russia's invading forces four years ago.

With U.S.-led efforts to end the war on hold and Washington's attention gripped by the conflict in the Middle East, European governments are keen to keep a spotlight on the continent's biggest land war in decades, now in its fifth year.