President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Ukraine had received sophisticated air defense systems from the United States, Reuters reported.
It was the first acknowledgment that Ukraine had received the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), long sought by Kyiv and whose shipment was approved by Washington late last month.
"We absolutely need the United States to show leadership and give Ukraine the air defense systems. I want to thank President (Joe) Biden for a positive decision that has been already made," Zelenskyy said, according to an English-language transcript of the interview. "But believe me, it's not even nearly enough to cover the civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, universities, homes of Ukrainians.
The European Union must stop importing diamonds from Russia, five of the bloc's 27 countries said in a joint proposal seen by Reuters, as the EU prepares new sanctions against Moscow for waging war against Ukraine.
The EU, which has so far implemented six rounds of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, needs unanimity to agree any such ban that Belgium - home to the world's biggest diamond trading hub Antwerp - has rejected in the past.
The bloc was spurred into fresh action after President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilization last week and moved to annex parts of eastern Ukraine.
The EU's executive European Commission is expected to present a formal proposal for more sanctions to member states this week.
Poland, Ireland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia proposed introducing a retaliatory ban on imports of diamonds from Russia, where Alrosa ALRS.MM is the world's largest producer of rough gems.
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre said sanctions would take away some 30% of business and benefit rival trade hubs, adding clients should be allowed to decide themselves if they wanted Russian gems.
Belgium's foreign ministry and the diplomatic representation to the EU did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported
Wearing T-shirts showing Russian bears, waving flags with "Z" symbols, and holding pictures of Putin aloft — the Ukraine war has not deterred Bulgarian Russophiles, who rallied in the center of the country to show their support, .
The Balkan state — an EU and NATO member with historically close ties to Russia — still has many citizens nostalgic for the former Communist regime.
The pro-Moscow rally came as Sofia readies to return to the polls and the country grapples with its identity.
The United Arab Emirates agreed Sunday to supply natural gas and diesel to Germany as part of an "energy security" deal to replace Russian supplies, .
Emirati industry minister Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber called it a "landmark new agreement" that "reinforces the rapidly growing energy partnership between the UAE and Germany", at a signing attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the UAE's state news agency WAM reported.
Scholz signed the deal while on a Gulf tour that took him to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar hunting for new energy sources.
Scholz's two-day Gulf tour aimed to seal new energy deals to replace Russian supplies and mitigate the energy crisis resulting from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews gathered in the Ukrainian city of Uman for their annual pilgrimage, officials said Sunday, despite authorities asking them to skip the trip because of the war, .
Every year, Hasidic Jewish pilgrims come to Uman from across the world to visit the tomb of one of the main figures of Hasidic judaism for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.
The central Ukrainian city of Uman is relatively far from the frontline, but Ukrainian and Israeli authorities urged worshippers to skip the celebrations taking place between September 25 and 27 this year.
But despite the warnings, crowds of Hasidim dressed in traditional black clothing gathered in Uman, celebrating in the streets.
Israel is to treat 20 Ukrainian soldiers wounded in the conflict with Russian forces, the Israeli ambassador to Kyiv announced, according to Agence France-Presse.
"Israel will receive for treatment 20 Ukrainian servicemen who were seriously wounded during the war," envoy Michael Brodsky .
The first two patients will arrive on Sunday for treatment at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, he added.
A medical source confirmed to AFP that two soldiers were en route to Israel, while a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian embassy in Tel Aviv said she expected the first patients to arrive "soon".
They will be treated with prosthetics and rehabilitation.