President Joe Biden met with the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan on Thursday where the Quad leaders discussed the conflict in Ukraine.

"The Quad leaders discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications. They agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted about his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, "At this point, he refuses to cease his attacks on Ukraine. Maintaining the dialogue to avoid human tragedies is absolutely necessary. I will continue my efforts and contacts. We must avoid the worst."

He added, "A dialogue to protect populations, to obtain moves that will avoid human tragedies, to put an end to this war: this is the meaning of my commitment alongside President Zelensky and the international community. My determination is and will remain total."

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou and Ibtissem Guenfoud

Canada announced a new program on Thursday that will "cut through red tape" to expedite arrivals for Ukrainians seeking temporary or permanent residency, said Sean Fraser, Canada's minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship.

"There is no limit on how many can apply," Fraser said.

"All those who arrive in Canada as part of these measures will be eligible for open work permits and will quickly be able to work if they so choose," Fraser noted.

He went on, "Our commitment to Ukrainians goes beyond the historic ties between Canada and Ukraine and beyond the cultural connections between our people. It's a commitment to humanity."

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

The U.S. Treasury and State Departments are expected to announce new sanctions against Russian oligarchs on Thursday, according to a White House official.

The sanctions will expand upon recently announced EU sanctions, block specific oligarchs’ travel to the U.S. and target the oligarchs’ relatives, according to the official.

-ABC's Ben Gittleson

Russia's Foreign Ministry claimed U.S. military intelligence launched a massive campaign to recruit contractors from private military companies to send to Ukraine.

"They recruit primarily those employed by Academi, CUBIC and DynCorp [International]," Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a press briefing on Thursday.

Foreign mercenaries who have arrived in Ukraine are performing acts of sabotage and attacking Russian convoys of motor vehicles and aviation, Konashenkov said.

"Foreign mercenaries who earlier arrived in Ukraine are carrying out acts of sabotage and raids on Russian convoys of [military] vehicles and materiel supplies, and on the aviation supporting them," Konashenkov said.

Konashenkov claimed Britain, Denmark, Latvia, Poland and Croatia have legally permitted their citizens to take part in Ukraine hostilities and that the command of the French Foreign Legion plans to send its ethnic Ukrainian troops to aid the Kyiv regime.

Mercenaries from other countries in Ukraine will not receive prisoner-of-war status and will be subject to criminal liability, Konashenkov said.

"I want to officially emphasize that all mercenaries sent by the West to help the Kyiv nationalist regime are not combatants under international humanitarian law. They are not entitled to POW status," Konashenkov said.

Russia said it hopes its current talks with Ukraine on Belarusian soil will soon lead to a peaceful settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"We hope the [talks] will lead to a swift conclusion of this situation, the restoration of peace in Donbas, and the return of all peoples of Ukraine to a peaceful and equitable life," she told a briefing in Moscow on Thursday.

- ABC News' Tanya Stukalova