Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat says Russia has no intention of attacking any NATO or EU member state but warned of a “decisive response” if any “aggression” was directed towards Moscow.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia‘s foreign minister of 21 years, was speaking in New York at the 80th UN General Assembly, where he said threats against his country by Western nations were becoming “increasingly common”.

He was expected to address allegations made against Moscow that it has violated the airspace of several of its neighbours in recent weeks, heightening tensions across Europe.

Estonia said Russian fighter jets flew into its airspace last week and remained there for 12 minutes, while a NATO air defence mission was recently carried out over Poland in response to “unprecedented” Russian drone incursions above the country.

Romania and Latvia also reported that single Russian drones had violated their airspace this month.

“Threats of force against Russia, accused of practically planning an attack on the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, are becoming increasingly common,” Mr Lavrov said in New York.

“President Putin has repeatedly debunked such provocations. Russia has never had and does not have such intentions, but any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.”

At the start of the week, US President Donald Trump told the UN that NATO nations should shoot down Russian planes in their airspace.

‘They will regret it’

After his UN address, Mr Lavrov held a news conference, where he insisted again that Moscow “has nothing to hide” over the allegations against it.

He was then asked by US correspondent Mark Stone what the Kremlin’s response would be if a nation shot down a Russian drone or plane in Russian airspace.

“Try to understand that a drone, when it is flying not over our territory, but if it crosses someone’s border but has left our airspace, probably everyone has the right to do with that drone whatever they consider necessary to ensure their security.

“But if there are attempts to shoot down any flying object, or indeed any object at all, on our territory, in our airspace, then I think people will seriously regret it, undertaking such a gross violation of our territorial integrity, our sovereignty.”

‘Hypocrisy’ over Gaza comments

At the start of his UN speech, Mr Lavrov took time to criticise Israel’s actions in the Middle East, accusing it of trying to “blow up” the region and saying it had “no justification” for the “brutal killings” of Palestinians in Gaza.

“The illegal use of force against the Palestinians and aggressive actions against Iran, Qatar, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq today threaten to blow up the entire Middle East.”

He also hit out at Israeli plans to annex the West Bank: “There is no justification for plans to annex the West Bank. This is essentially a coup d’etat in diplomatic terms.”

Israel has repeatedly claimed that it does not target civilians in Gaza and says its military actions across the Middle East are strategically vital for its self-defence.

Mark Stone said Mr Lavrov’s comments on Israel’s actions will be seen as highly hypocritical given Russia’s war in Ukraine which began in February 2022.

“Lavrov said Israel is bombing schools, it is bombing hospitals in Gaza,” Stone said.

“Well, remember Mariupol and the rest of those cities in Ukraine, where Russia has and continues to do just the same thing? There’s a certain hypocrisy there, for sure.”

Dozens of diplomats have walked out of the UN’s assembly hall as Israel’s prime minister took to the podium to speak.

As the session’s chairman called for order, there were boos and cheers while delegates streamed out, leaving masses of empty seats.

Benjamin Netanyahu used his speech to speak directly to the hostages held in Gaza and their captors.

UN latest: Dozens of delegates walk out on Netanyahu’s UN address in protest

He said loudspeakers had been put up around the territory and said Israeli spies had hacked mobile phones in Gaza so they carried his voice.

To the hostages he said: “We have not forgotten you… we will not falter, we will not rest until we have brought all of you home.”

To Hamas’s leadership, he said: “Lay down your arms… free the hostages now. If you do you will live, if you don’t Israel will hunt you down.”

He hit out at “false charge of genocide” and said: “If Hamas agrees to demands, war could end.”

Mr Netanyahu held a map of the region and crossed out the various threats he said had been eliminated, such as Hezbollah and Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“Israel rebounded from its darkest day to deliver one of the most stunning military comebacks in history,” he said.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump said he believes the US has reached a deal on easing fighting in Gaza, saying it “will get the hostages back” and “end the war”.

“I think we maybe have a deal on Gaza, very close to a deal on Gaza,” the US president told reporters on the White House lawn as he was leaving to attend the Ryder Cup.

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed an agreement to end the war was imminent, only for nothing to materialise. Weeks ago he said: “I think we’re going to have a deal on Gaza very soon.”

It comes soon after the UK, France, Canada and Australia formally recognised a Palestinian state in an effort to keep alive the prospect of a two-state solution.

The war in Gaza has been going on for nearly two years, with UN agencies and its chief repeatedly warning over the dire humanitarian situation.

Israel’s recently launched ground assault on Gaza City has only heightened concerns and seen thousands flee south in fear for their lives.

Israel says it’s designed to destroy what remains of Hamas after its October 2023 terror attack killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped 251.

The Israeli leader insisted Israel had to “finish the job” to ensure the atrocity is not repeated.

“They beheaded men. They raped women. They burned babies alive. They burned babies alive in front of their parents,” he told the UN.

Walk outs show Netanyahu is a leader now isolated

Yalda Hakim

Lead world news presenter

@SkyYaldaHakim

Even before Benjamin Netanyahu started to speak, dozens of diplomats walked out. His Israeli team attempted to distract from their actions by cheering and giving their Prime Minister a standing ovation.

Almost immediately, Netanyahu did what he often does during these speeches – presenting props and a map of the region, ticking off one by one the threats that have long been posed against his country.

However, while he attempted to remind the few still seated to listen to his speech at the UN General Assembly of the horrors of 7 October, it was clear that this was a leader now isolated.

His journey to New York was complicated as he snaked around European countries to avoid an ICC arrest warrant.

Netanyahu’s speech was broadcast live into Gaza via Israeli military vehicles carrying loudspeakers – where he sent a message to the hostages and issued a threat to Hamas: “Lay down your arms, free the hostages.”

Some of his country’s staunchest allies – Britain, France, Australia, and Canada – recognised a Palestinian state just this week. It now also appears that his strongest ally, Donald Trump, has had enough and wants this war to end.

The US president, in a meeting with Muslim and Arab leaders, has attempted to reassure them that he will bring an end to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza and ban Benjamin Netanyahu from annexing the West Bank.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister told me Trump is “very, very committed” to a pathway to peace to end the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Netanyahu is due to meet Donald Trump early next week. The question is, will he finally put the kind of pressure on the Israeli prime minister that the international community is demanding?

Mr Netanyahu previously condemned the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western powers, saying it only rewarded Hamas and made it harder to win the release of the remaining hostages.

There are fears he could retaliate by annexing the West Bank and recognising Israeli control over illegal settlements.

However, Mr Trump – the only world leader believed to hold any sway over Israel – told reporters yesterday he would “not allow it”.

The Israeli leader is subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, which has accused him of crimes against humanity, which he denies.

More than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the war, according to the country’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Ninety per cent of its population has also been displaced by attacks that have flattened most of the territory and left many people desperately short of food.

‘Weak-kneed’ Western leaders

The Israeli prime minister told the UN “the war could end right now” if Gaza agreed to its demands.

“Israel would retain overriding security control, and a peaceful civilian authority would be established by Gazans and others committed to peace with Israel.”

He also hit out at “weak-kneed” Western leaders who he accused of giving in to biased media and antisemitic mobs.

“For much of the past two years, Israel has had to fight a seven-front war against barbarism, with many of your nations opposing us,” said Mr Netanyahu.

He denied his military was deliberately targeting civilians and referenced an assessment that it was taking more “measures to minimise civilian casualties than any military in history”.

Denying genocide claims, the prime minister said the “truth had been turned on its head” and cited his forces dropping millions of leaflets and sending text messages telling people to flee prior to attacks.

The tribal militia turned paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan are known to document their own war crimes.

Videos of their fighters lynching women, lashing emergency responders and cheering over dead bodies have circulated online since the start of the RSF’s war with Sudan‘s army in April 2023.

One piece of evidence never revealed in any of their violent videos is who is backing them and why?

In an exclusive interview with Sky News at a location we cannot disclose, an RSF intelligence officer confirms widespread allegations that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the RSF’s main backer in a war that has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

“In the beginning, it was the Russians – Wagner and the state. Now, they tell me it is the UAE supporting the RSF,” says Ahmed*, using an alias to protect his identity.

Originally from North Darfur, Ahmed lives a double life as a refugee in one of Sudan’s neighbouring countries while staying connected to forces on the ground.

“Many of the planes landing at Nyala [in South Darfur] are said to bring weapons from the UAE and partially through the Amdjarras airport in Chad.

“It’s a financial relationship, no more,” he said. “The RSF controls areas with large gold mines – Darfur alone has more than four or five gold mines – the UAE is a gold trading hub.”

The RSF is accused of genocide in Darfur and mass looting, sexual violence and armed raids across the country.

Its troops are currently strangling the last state-held capital of North Darfur in a violent siege to complete its control of western Sudan. Close to a million people in Al Fashir locality are being starved by an RSF blockade and bombarded by daily drone strikes and shelling.

On the outskirts of North Darfur’s Karnoi town, we meet Joint Task Forces intelligence commander Idris Ali.

The Joint Task Forces are made up of former rebels from across Darfur that the military armed the RSF to crush, through mass ethnic violence in the early 2000s. Now, they are armed by the state to fight the RSF.

“Our patriotism does not allow us to surrender. Our right to the land means we have to fight until our last breath,” says Commander Ali.

Read more:
The men facing death to smuggle food to Sudan
Inside the epicentre of Sudan’s war

The RSF is currently using sophisticated weapons and drones to pummel his forces and civilians in Al Fashir, and carry out strikes across Sudan.

“According to our sources, the weapons come from the UAE. Chad is just a corridor for these arms to reach Sudan,” he added.

According to his intelligence, supplies travel from Chad’s second city Abeche through the Adre crossing and into West Darfur to Al Geneina – the state capital the RSF massacred before its violent takeover in November 2023.

One video he shared with us shows a truck crossing after dark with khaki material covering its cargo.

The commander says it was filmed by sources on the Chad-Sudan border during an arms transfer from Adre town into West Darfur. There is no identifiable branding of humanitarian aid or visible signs of weapons in the footage.

In another video, a convoy of land cruisers races through terrain similar to that of eastern Chad. He says his sources also documented this at the Adre crossing and alleges that the land cruisers are painted in RSF colours and turned into lethal ‘technicals’ [weaponised civilian vehicles] once in West Darfur.

He describes a second route that runs south of the border town Tine into North Darfur. Further north, he says RSF arms and supplies land in Amdjarras airport in Chad and head to the main RSF base and supply hub in Zurug town.

At least 86 flights travelling from the UAE to Amdjarras airport were independently documented by December 2024.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council on 4 September, the Sudanese authorities alleged no fewer than 248 flights between November 2024 and February 2025 were operated by UAE-chartered aircraft to smuggle mercenaries, weapons and military equipment into Sudanese territory.

More recently, online flight tracker @AfriMEOSINT noted flights from the UAE arriving in N’djamena airport in Chad’s capital. On 20 September, a cargo flight left Al Reef airbase in Abu Dhabi and landed in the military section of N’Djamena airport.

In April, the Guardian reported on a leaked United Nations report that documented a consistent pattern of Ilyushin 1L-76TD cargo flights originating from the UAE into Chad, with multiple flights making deliberate attempts to avoid detection and identified at least three overland routes from Chad potentially used for transporting weapons into Sudan.

According to the Guardian, the experts added they could not identify what the planes were carrying or locate any evidence the planes were transporting weapons. These findings were not included in the final 39-page report.

UAE ‘categorically rejects’ claims

We presented the allegations in our report to the UAE’s foreign ministry. It sent us this response:

“Since the onset of the civil war, the UAE has consistently supported regional and international efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for violations committed by all warring parties.

“The UAE remains committed to a civilian-led process that places the needs of the Sudanese people above the interests of any faction.

“In this spirit, the UAE notes a marked increase in unfounded accusations and deliberate propaganda from the so-called Port Sudan Authority, one of the warring parties to the civil war, which actively undermines efforts to end the conflict and restore stability.

“These escalating fabrications form part of a calculated pattern of deflection – shifting blame to others to evade responsibility for its own actions – intended to prolong the war and obstruct a genuine peace process.

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“We categorically reject any claims of providing any form of support to either warring party since the onset of the civil war, and condemn atrocities committed by both Port Sudan Authority and RSF.

“The latest UN Panel of Experts report makes clear that there is no substantiated evidence that the UAE has provided any support to RSF, or has any involvement in the conflict.

“The UAE reaffirms its unwavering commitment to working closely with partners to foster dialogue, mobilise international support, and contribute to initiatives that address the humanitarian crisis and lay the groundwork for sustainable peace.

“These efforts will assist in building a secure and stable future for Sudan that meets the aspirations of the brotherly Sudanese people for peace and development.”

The Chadian government did not respond to our request for comment.