British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he and other European leaders plan to travel to the United States in September to lobby US President Donald Trump to let Ukraine access some of its Patriot air defense missile stocks ahead of the winter, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing an interview.

“I’m looking forward to going to New York in September,” Burnham told Bloomberg.

“I’ve not fully confirmed the details yet but it’s likely I will go, particularly after today’s discussion,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

The leaders of Britain and France pledged to provide Ukraine with stronger military support, including access to classified technology and faster deliveries of air defense missiles, at a meeting of allies to mark Kyiv's independence day celebrations.

Burnham, in Kyiv on his first foreign visit since taking office last month, urged the gathering of the "Coalition of the Willing" to "do everything we can" to bolster Ukraine's defenses against Russian air strikes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier praised the resilience of the Ukrainian people during more than four years of war.

At the United Nations in New York, dozens of countries issued a joint statement reaffirming support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and urging Russia to accept an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire.

"Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it is not ready to simply surrender," Zelensky said, adding that Russia would not halt its aggression even if Ukraine ceded to its demands for more territory in the country's east.

Wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, Zelensky thanked foreign leaders for traveling to Kyiv to show their support on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's break from the Soviet Union.

Standing alongside Zelensky and European Council President Antonio Costa, Burnham said his choice of Kyiv for his first foreign visit showed the importance he attached to assisting in Ukraine's defense.

"We are with you in this struggle all the way, heart and soul," Burnham said, vowing to continue that support "despite Russia's outrageous threats to my country."

"This is the moment to keep up the pressure on Russia. The moment to squeeze their ability to fund this illegal war," Burnham said, calling for further economic sanctions.

Britain announced on Monday it would allow Kyiv access to classified technology to start its own production of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, capable of carrying out strikes deep within Russia. France has already given its assent to license the technology for the European missile.

In response, the Kremlin said the use of classified British technology would "add fuel to the fire" of their worsening relations, after it warned London last week there would be "consequences" for supplying drones to Kyiv.

With Russia escalating its ballistic missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Kyiv is suffering an acute shortage of the US-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing such missiles.

Zelensky said Ukraine needed at least 300 interceptors to make it through the winter, and he appealed to allies to deliver an air defense package before Russia renews its strikes on his country's energy infrastructure.

French President Emmanuel Macron, co-chairing the coalition meeting via video link, said that a string of deadly attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks had shown that allies needed to step up the deliveries of interceptors and France would do its part.

"I think it's very important that all of us accelerate in terms of delivery," Macron told the meeting, urging countries not to back down in the face of Russian intimidation. "The bottom line is, for me, very clear: keep calm and carry on."

Zelensky told the meeting that Ukraine's war effort was complicated by a $27-billion defense funding gap this year and appealed for additional financial support. He suggested that Russia's frozen overseas assets could be used to finance the deficit.

Paying tribute to Ukrainian people and soldiers defending Ukraine in the war, Zelensky called on allies to give it "everything" needed to stop the war.

"We are not asking you to fight for us," he said.

In a joint statement, more than 50 countries at the UN called on Russia to accept an unconditional ceasefire. "This senseless war and the immense human suffering could end immediately," the statement said.

"Russia simply needs to accept the unconditional ceasefire that Ukraine and the international community has been calling for for over a year and a half now."

Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Western countries of using Ukraine as a tool for exerting pressure on Moscow while falsely portraying themselves as peace advocates.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and swathes of Ukrainian territory have been laid waste, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

US-led peace talks to bring a lasting end to the war fell apart earlier this year as Ukraine refused Russian demands to cede more territory. Fighting continues along a 750-mile (1,200-km) front line and Ukraine has succeeded in bringing Russian advances overall to a virtual halt this year.

Hovering in the sky above Kyiv, a squadron of aerial drones carried out a demonstration of Ukrainian military technology, which has helped to keep Russian forces in check.

Naval drones swept along the Dnipro river, while unmanned ground vehicles, some equipped with heavy machine guns, trundled in formation along one of the city's main historical avenues.

Ukraine has increased its long-range attacks on Russian refineries and logistics infrastructure, aimed at undermining Moscow's war effort.

It hit four logistics hubs owned by Russia's second-largest online retailer Ozon in southern Russia in drone strikes on Monday, the company said.

In a somber moment, the Ukrainian leader rewarded fallen soldiers with state awards, which he presented to their mothers and family members.

He also announced the return of 10 Ukrainian servicemen, who were previously listed as missing in action, as part of a special prisoner exchange with Russia.

"We remember each and every one who remains in captivity," Zelensky said, promising to do everything possible to bring them home.

The United States canceled a joint amphibious landing drill scheduled for next month with South Korea, Seoul’s Marine Corps said on Monday, after Washington cited constraints on the availability of US forces due to the war in Iran.

The US Marine Corps formally notified its South Korean counterpart in June that force availability would be constrained for the division-level exercise, known as Ssangyong, a South Korean Marine Corps spokesperson told a press briefing.

The allies remain in close consultations on resuming the drills, the spokesperson said. He did not specify what measures might be taken to prevent future cancellations or to make up for lost training opportunities.

US Forces Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Later on Monday, the US State Department said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun about a "range of issues" in their alliance.

Rubio told his South Korean counterpart that Washington and Seoul need to remain in close coordination on matters integral to their alliance, according to a State Department statement.

The cancellation of the amphibious landing drill follows US President Donald Trump’s surprise order to scale back a separate annual joint military exercise that ended last Friday, citing the cost and Seoul’s refusal to take part in the Iran war.

Trump also wrote on his Truth Social platform that the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills sent “a signal that was totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.” Despite the reduction of the exercises, Pyongyang fired 10 short-range ballistic missiles last week and issued a statement denouncing the exercises.

North Korea has long condemned such joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that US President Donald Trump’s administration was not ruling out using military force against Iran, even as Washington unveiled an “economic D-Day” against Tehran.

“By no means are we foreclosing using kinetic strikes anywhere in the Strait of Hormuz or around Iran,” Hegseth told reporters, adding that Iran could not handle the economic pressure being put on it.

Trump is still set on preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb, US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a Newsmax interview on Monday afternoon.

"The president has been clear that he is going to see the Iranian nuclear weapons threat come to an end," he said, adding that "He will see that objective be completed one way or another."

"Past presidents have simply identified the threat."

“President Trump is taking action to prevent that threat from becoming a reality, the untenable threat of the Iranian regime having a nuclear weapon.”

This is a developing story.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY UKRAINE!

A Hungarian Gripen fighter jet crashed near the town of Szolnok on Monday, with the pilot having successfully ejected from the plane, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in a Facebook post.

The cause of the accident was currently unclear, and there were no injuries or casualties, Magyar said. No civilian infrastructure was harmed, he added.

The minister of defense was on his way to the scene, and an inquiry into the cause of the accident was underway, Magyar said.

"According to a preliminary report, there were no injuries, and there was no harm to civilian infrastructure," Magyar wrote on Facebook.

"The pilot is in an ambulance; he is alive," Minister of Defense Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said in a Facebook video.

Hungary, a NATO member state, operates 18 JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft, based in Kecskemét.

In 2015, a Hungarian Gripen crash-landed in central Hungary due to a technical fault. The pilot ejected, and the jet was later repaired.

Art thieves in Europe are committing more violent robberies focusing on gold and jewels, and specialist gangs have been replaced by ad-hoc opportunists recruited through social media, Europol said on Monday.

The heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October last year was a prime example of these shifts, Europol said, as the thieves threatened guards and visitors and stole €88 million worth of jewels such as Empress Eugenie’s tiara.

Over the last two years, art thieves have shifted their attention to precious metals, jewels, and cultural artifacts that offer greater profits, the EU’s law enforcement agency said in a report.

The price of gold has surged 85% over the past two years, as investors and central banks turn to the metal as a safe haven. The London Bullion Market Association, which oversees London’s over-the-counter gold trading hub, has warned that “as gold prices rise to historic levels, illicit flows and market distortions are also increasing.”

Europol said: "offenders are breaching premises and display cases using tools such as sledgehammers, axes, crowbars and, in some instances, explosives."

Where traditional gangs used "deception and stealth" and had a central leader and niche expertise, recent thefts were carried out by a decentralized ad-hoc group of profit-seeking opportunists, recruited through social media on a "crime-as-a-service" basis, it said.

Europol added that thieves were increasingly targeting gold items, from nuggets and coins to jewels.

"Precious metals can be easily melted down, leaving no trace for law enforcement, and facilitating illicit sales during the fencing process. Precious stones in jewelry, on the other hand, can be easily removed and sold further," the report said.

In January last year, thieves used explosives to steal a 2,500-year-old Dacian golden helmet and three ancient gold bracelets from a museum in the Netherlands. The artifacts were later recovered and returned to Romania, although one bracelet is still missing.

Europol also noted an increase in thefts of ancient Chinese porcelain artifacts such as Ming Dynasty vases due to high demand.

Suspected insurgents set fire to government buildings, shops, cars and utility poles in more than 70 locations across four of Thailand’s southernmost provinces over the weekend, injuring at least three people in a coordinated series of arson attacks, authorities said.

More than 7,800 people have been killed in provinces bordering Malaysia since 2004, when the latest round of a long-running insurgency led mainly by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) flared.

Here are more details provided by Thai officials:

There were at least 78 incidents across four provinces: 40 in Narathiwat, 21 in Yala, 15 in Pattani and two in Songkhla. No group has claimed responsibility.

Most of the attacks took place on Saturday evening across Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and parts of Songkhla, with some more on Sunday.

A rail line was hit by explosives in Narathiwat, prompting the suspension of services in that section.

Authorities have imposed a curfew in Narathiwat, and at a meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul asked the security forces to ensure public safety.

Thailand's predominantly Muslim and ethnic Malay deep south has faced a decades-long insurgency seeking greater autonomy or independence.

The region was part of the independent Malay sultanate of Patani before its incorporation into Thailand was formalized in 1909.

The attacks come as Thailand seeks to revive peace talks with the BRN, the main separatist group fighting in the region.
Chief negotiator Thanut Suvarnananda told Reuters this month that Bangkok wanted to move beyond trading concessions for reduced violence and address political grievances, including governance.

Malaysian-facilitated peace talks have repeatedly stalled since they began in 2013.

Lieutenant General Norathip Poinok, who commands the Thai army in the southern region, told local media on Monday that authorities had received intelligence nearly two months ago warning of attacks on government buildings, shops and power infrastructure.

Norathip described the attacks as retaliation for crackdowns on insurgents and illicit businesses, including drug and contraband trafficking, that fund militant groups.

The US Southern Command said on Monday it carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operating in the eastern Pacific, killing two on board.

"Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed two narco-terrorists," SOUTHCOM said in a post on X/Twitter.

This is a developing story.

Greece has moved a Patriot air defense battery to Crete following threats by senior Iranian officials against US bases in Europe, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported on Sunday.

The battery, personnel and equptment were moved overnight and are expected to be deployed near the Souda military base. Greece’s Defense Ministry and armed forces remain on heightened alert as officials assess the potential threat to critical infrastructure and military facilities as tensions rise with Iran, Kathimerini added.

The report explained that allied intelligence was concerned that Iran still has a significant number of ballistic missiles, with a reported range of over 2,000 km which would place parts of southeastern Europe, including Greece, within range.

The Patriot defense system was deployed in March to protect against ballistic missile threats. 

Kathimerini added that Athens is in contact with the US and Israel over potential threats to military bases in Greece and Cyprus.

Sources close to the regime in Tehran warned that Iran may attack US military targets in Europe if US President Donald Trump escalated the conflict.

The Financial Times reported that Tehran was seriously examining the options available to it to raise the stakes in the conflict, with many at the top of the regime seeing the renewal of the full-scale military confrontation as only a matter of time

Two sources familiar with the details told the Financial Times that Iranian forces already conducted situational assessments regarding the possibility of attacking American assets in southeastern European countries.

A prominent example of this is Bulgaria, which only last month approved the use of the Bessemer air base for US military refueling aircraft. Another source added that Cyprus, where a British air base was attacked by a drone last March, is also on the list of potential targets for retaliatory action in the event of a renewed American attack

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will visit Ukraine on Monday on his first overseas trip since taking office, and will announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles.

Burnham will be in Ukraine to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries backing Ukraine, on Monday when he is also due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He is set to announce that Britain has agreed to allow European missile manufacturer MBDA to release classified information on British-made components used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile, according to his office.

That will help enable France and Ukraine to establish local assembly lines for the missile, which shares British and French technology, according to Downing Street.

“Ukraine’s security is our security,” Burnham said in a statement, adding that Britain would stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

Britain has been one of Ukraine's strongest supporters since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, providing military support, economic aid and diplomatic backing.

Britain was the first country to announce plans to supply Ukraine with Western-made battle tanks and long-range cruise missiles following the invasion and has pledged more than £25 billion so far in military and civilian support.

Moscow warned London last week of “consequences” for supplying drones to Kyiv, accusing Britain of deepening its involvement in the war following a report ​that British-made drones had been used for long-range strikes against Russia ​for the first time.

Burnham is expected to use his visit to reassure Ukraine and its allies that Britain would continue to play a leading role in efforts to strengthen Ukraine's security under his government.

The push to expand Ukraine's domestic missile production comes as Ukraine increasingly relies on long-range drones and strike weapons to target Russian oil refineries and logistics facilities far behind the front lines.

The visit comes weeks after Zelensky traveled to Britain in late July as Burnham's first international guest, following the Labour leader's election as prime minister a week earlier.