When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s president is said to have turned down a US offer to be evacuated with the words: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”
Two years on, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is still standing firm – but so too is his urgent need for weapons and ammunition, everything from bullets to fighter jets.
The UK and other Western allies rushed in support for the military during the first weeks of the war, with British and American anti-tank missiles playing a key role in enabling Ukrainian troops to fend off a Russian attempt to capture the capital Kyiv.
However, Western willingness to arm Ukraine has consistently lagged behind the requirement, in part because of concerns about giving too much capability and igniting a direct confrontation between NATO and Moscow – two nuclear-armed foes.
Image: A Ukrainian soldier in the frontline village of Robotyne. Pic: Reuters
Those nerves have belatedly eased over time, helped by relentless lobbying by Mr Zelenskyy and an understanding that defending Ukraine is vital for wider European security.
As a result, Ukrainian commanders have received increasingly powerful weapons, from tanks and multiple rocket launchers to longer-range missiles and the promise of warplanes.
A bigger challenge now, though, is the West’s capacity to keep delivering.
Decades of defence cuts in the UK and other European allies since the end of the Cold War, coupled with a reduction in physical production lines to manufacture new weapons and ammunition, mean that stockpiles in Europe in particular are running worryingly low.
Efforts are under way to revive what is known as the military industrial base but they are woefully slow compared to what the Russian side is doing.
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Vladimir Putin put his economy on a war-footing, ramping up production of arms, while also striking deals with fellow dictatorships such as Iran and North Korea to import weapons from them.
It means his ability to rearm Russian forces is far greater than the West’s ability to re-equip the Ukrainians, even though the combined strength of the economies of NATO’s 31 – soon to be 32 – member states is some 25 times that of Russia.
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2:19
‘We can persuade Americans it matters’
Another major hazard is what direction the United States chooses to take.
By far the biggest and most powerful of Ukraine’s backers, US military support has been fundamental to Kyiv’s war-effort.
Joe Biden is clear that maintaining this assistance is vital, not just for Ukraine, but for the wider democratic world.
However, domestic political rows in the US Congress have held up the approval of a key funding package. There is also uncertainty about upcoming US elections and what a potential second Donald Trump presidency might mean for future support for Ukraine.
Entering his third year of full-scale war, Mr Zelenskyy will need to intensify the pressure even further on his allies to turn words of solidarity into more weapons.
Summing up the dilemma at a conference in Munich this month, he said: “Please do not ask Ukraine when the war will end. Ask yourself: ‘Why is Putin still able to continue it?'”
International teams searching for the bodies of hostages have been allowed to cross Israel’s military boundary in Gaza, according to an Israeli government spokesperson.
Hamas says it has expanded its search for the bodies of hostages in Gaza, a day after a team of Egyptian experts arrived to help retrieve them.
The team is working with the Red Cross during the search.
“Israel is aware that Hamas knows where our deceased hostages are, in fact, located. If Hamas made more of an effort, they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages,” the government spokesperson said on Sunday.
Image: Teams using excavators in Khan Younis. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
The military boundary, often referred to as the “yellow line”, is a boundary for Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops in Gaza, established by the ceasefire agreement.
The fragile ceasefire, brokered by the US, relies on Hamas returning all the remains of Israeli hostages as soon as possible, but in the past five days, no bodies have been released.
On Saturday, the Egyptian team arrived with an excavator and bulldozers to help search for bodies, as part of efforts by international mediators to make sure the ceasefire holds.
The bodies of 13 hostages remain in Gaza, with Hamas chief Khalil al Hayya saying the group has started searching in new areas on Sunday morning.
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5:22
Israel backing armed groups despite Gaza ceasefire
As part of the ceasefire deal, Israel agreed to give back 15 bodies of Palestinians for every body of a hostage.
Israel has now sent back the bodies of 195 Palestinians, while Hamas has returned 15 bodies of hostages.
US President Donald Trump warned he is “watching very closely” to ensure Hamas returns more bodies.
“Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely,” he said in his post on Saturday.
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0:57
Vance: ‘Optimistic a ceasefire will hold’
Last week, Hayya told an Egyptian media outlet that efforts to retrieve the bodies faced challenges because of the massive destruction, burying them deep underground.
On Saturday night, Israeli forces struck the central Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza for the second time in a week, according to Awda Hospital.
The IDF claimed it was targeting militants associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group who were planning to attack Israeli troops.
Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in Gaza, denied it was preparing for an attack.
Hamas called the strike a “clear violation” of the ceasefire and accused Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to sabotage President Trump’s efforts to end the war.
The strike on Saturday came hours after US secretary of state Marco Rubio left Israel.
He was the latest in a series of White House officials to visit Israel and visit a new centre for civilian and military coordination that is attempting to oversee the ceasefire.
US vice president JD Vance was in Israel earlier this week, as were American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.
Two men have been arrested following a robbery at the Louvre museum in Paris which saw thieves escape with priceless jewellery, including part of the French crown jewels.
Confirming arrests had been made on Saturday night, French public prosecutor Laure Beccuau appeared furious with the way the arrests were announced.
She said: “I deeply deplore the hasty disclosure of this information by informed individuals, without consideration for the investigation.
“This revelation can only harm the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators involved in the search for both the stolen jewellery and all the perpetrators.”
Image: Police officers near a basket lift used by the thieves. Pic: AP
While Ms Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests, she said one man had been arrested as he was preparing to leave the country from Charles de Gaulle Airport.
A second man was arrested on the same evening, also in the Paris region, according to French media.
Ms Beccuau did not say whether jewels had been recovered.
Both men are originally from Seine-Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, according to French daily paper Le Parisien.
The operation is understood to have been swiftly launched after investigators, who had been monitoring the two individuals for days, realised that one of them was about to flee abroad. French media reported he was set to board a flight to Algeria.
Ms Beccuau said it was too early to provide any further details, but would say more at the end of the period of police custody.
Image: The Louvre is one of the most famous museums in the world. Pic: AP
Commenting on the arrests on social media, France’s interior minister Laurent Nunez praised the investigators for “working tirelessly” and said “the investigations must continue while respecting the confidentiality of the inquiry”.
The suspects are now in pre-trial detention as part of investigations into the “organised theft” and “criminal conspiracy to commit a crime”. They can be held for up to 96 hours.
The men are suspected of being part of the group of criminals who used a cherry picker to reach a window in the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre, smashing display cases and making off with jewels worth £76m. They fled on motorbikes.
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2:39
‘Matter of time’ before gang hit Louvre
One of the world’s most famous museums, attracting up to 30,000 visitors a day, the Louvre was forced to close last Sunday morning after thieves accessed a gallery containing the French crown jewels at around 9.30am local time (8.30am UK time).
It took them less than eight minutes to steal eight “priceless” objects, including sapphire and emerald necklaces, and a diamond brooch containing 2,438 diamonds.
A ninth item – the emerald crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie – was stolen but recovered, damaged at the scene.
US President Donald Trump has overseen the signing of an expanded ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia, which he helped negotiate this summer to resolve their border dispute.
The ceremony took place shortly after Mr Trump arrived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN summit on Sunday, in what he described as a “momentous day”.
“There was a lot of killing. And then we got it stopped, very quickly,” he said before Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the agreement.
“We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” said Mr Trump. Mr Manet called it a “historic day” and Mr Charnvirakul said the agreement creates “the building blocks for a lasting peace”.
The ceasefire agreement calls for Thailand to release 18 Cambodian soldiers in captivity and for both countries to start withdrawing heavy weapons from the border.
The US president said he had signed economic deals with both nations and was scheduled to finalise a trade agreement with Malaysia later in the day.
Image: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim welcomes Mr Trump on the first stop of his trip to Asia. Pic: Reuters
During the ASEAN Summit, regional leaders are expected to work on stabilising ties with the US.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a troupe of ceremonial dancers greeted Mr Trump at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He paused on the red carpet to dance with the performers before getting into his limousine.
Kuala Lumpur is the first stop of Mr Trump’s week-long trip to the region, which also includes visits to Japan and South Korea.
Asked by a reporter whether rare earths were discussed in the US-China talks that began on Saturday, US trade negotiator Jamieson Greer said a wide range of topics were covered, including extending the trade truce.
“I believe we are reaching a point where the leaders will have a very productive meeting,” Mr Greer said.
Mr Trump is also expected to discuss tariffs with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is among the leaders attending the APEC summit.
Image: Mr Trump joins performers in a dance during a welcome ceremony at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Pic: Reuters
East Timor, Asia’s youngest nation, officially became ASEAN’s 11th member on Sunday, fulfilling a vision its current president had nearly 50 years ago, when the country was still a Portuguese colony.
Also known as Timor-Leste, the nation of 1.4 million is among Asia’s poorest and hopes joining the bloc will strengthen its fledgling economy. At roughly $2bn, it represents only a small fraction of ASEAN’s combined $3.8trn GDP.