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Added on the 02/03/2023 22:21:24 - Copyright : France 24 EN
Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius says he believes the EU member will manage to send a first battalion of tanks to war-torn Ukraine by April. "I think we could deliver at least one battalion in the first four months of this year. Three months maybe. And then we have to proceed as fast as possible of course," he tells reporters while on a visit to Warsaw. SOUNDBITE
Tanks, cargo truck with fighters of rebel mercenary Wagner group leave the military headquarters the group had occupied earlier in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin halted the fighters' march on Moscow. IMAGES
Troops from the rebellious Wagner mercenary group are out in force in the city of Rostov-on-Don outside the army headquarters for Russia's southern military district, with passers-by stopping to look at the military vehicles. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin says his troops have taken control of the headquarters, Russia's main command centre for Ukraine operations, as well as an airbase in the city, vowing to topple Moscow's top military leaders. IMAGES
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says during a press conference in Colombia's capital Bogota that he welcomes the conversation between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, thought to be their first call since Russia invaded Ukraine. SOUNDBITE TO FOLLOW 33DW89G
Images show Ukrainian heavy T72B3 tanks and BMP-2 infantry vehicles on the road heading to the frontline in eastern Ukraine. IMAGES
Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announces the extension of the Black Sea grain deal that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain to resume following Russia's invasion. "This agreement" he says, "is of vital importance in terms of global food supply". Ukraine's infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, tweeted that the deal has been extended for 120 days. COMPLETES EN_33BK8BL SOUNDBITE