The Estonian army will soon stand up a unit solely dedicated to loitering munitions, drawing on lessons from the Ukrainian war, the battery’s prospective commander told Defense One.Estonian Land Forces Maj.

Ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh say they have agreed to a Russian proposal for a ceasefire, a day after Azerbaijan began an offensive to take control of the contested enclave and demanded a full surrender.

The European Right is calling out Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for what they call a betrayal and U-turn on migration at this key moment that the southern Italian island of Lampedusa is being overwhelmed with well over 6,000 migrants, the bulk of which flooded the tiny outpost on a single day last week.

For example, Matteo Salvini and France's Marine Le Pen, who leads the National Rally’s parliamentary faction, have blasted Meloni for her handling of the crisis, or rather for being missing in action at this pivotal moment.

The European Union has been providing weapons to Ukraine to help it to defend itself, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, told reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

"We are supporting and helping Ukraine to defend itself, to defend its territory <…>. Never we have had the intention to attack Russia. And that’s why it’s so important that the agreement that we have with Ukraine is respected <…>: we provide military equipment to help the Ukrainians to defend themselves," he insisted.

Poland will no longer provide arms to the Ukrainian military, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said, adding that Warsaw would instead shift focus to its own security. The decision follows a diplomatic row over Ukrainian grain imports, which were banned in Poland after flooding local markets. 

Morawiecki told reporters on Wednesday that the government would halt the weapons shipments, highlighting a growing rift between the two neighbors after more than a year of heavy support from Warsaw.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has said Kiev should not forget the crucial role Poland plays in Western military aid to Ukraine. The veiled threat came after cash-strapped Ukraine launched legal action against Warsaw over Poland’s embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain. 

“It would be good for Ukraine to remember that it receives help from us and to remember that we are also a transit country to Ukraine,” Duda told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. 

Oil prices rose for yet another day early on Tuesday, with Brent hitting $95 per barrel, as Azerbaijan said it had launched “anti-terrorist” operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh region with mostly Armenian population.

Azerbaijan carried out strikes on the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday as it announced the launch of an “anti-terror” operation, a move that threatens to trigger another war in the region.

According to government figures, 99,939 people sought asylum in the UK in 2022. 

In contrast the number making initial applications for Germany was over 243,000, while France saw 156,000 and Spain around 117,000, according to Eurostat.

Austria also had more asylum seekers at 112,000 - although Italy's total of 84,300 was lower than Britain.

In total, EU27 countries had more than 965,000 asylum seekers in 2022, up from 677,000 in 2017. 

The figures do not cover most arrivals from Ukraine, with the UK and EU countries operating separate visa routes.

On Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plan to visit the Italian island of Lampedusa where thousands of migrants arrived this week from Tunisia.