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Added on the 23/01/2023 20:03:28 - 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
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss urges allies to keep arming Ukraine and to ramp up sanctions against Russia, as the Group of Seven industrialised nations held talks in northern Germany on Friday. SOUNDBITE of Liz Truss, British Foreign Secretary
In Luxembourg, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner says it is not yet possible for the EU to cut Russian gas imports as a sanction against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. SOUNDBITE
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says that alliance members must guarantee long-term weapon deliveries for Ukraine, as ministers prepared to discuss a proposal for a 100-billion-euro, five-year fund. Speaking in Brussels, where NATO foreign ministers are meeting to forge a support package by a July summit in Washington, Stoltenberg says "we must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for the long haul." "We must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for the long haul so that we rely less on the voluntary contributions and more on NATO commitments, less on short-term offers and more on multi-year pledges," Stoltenberg says as NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels. SOUNDBITE
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin promises that the "United States will not let Ukraine fail" at the opening of a meeting of Ukraine's international supporters in Germany, even as further aid remains stalled in Congress and Kyiv's forces face shortages of munitions. SOUNDBITE
Hundreds gather outside the Russian embassy in Berlin to protest against Russia's invasion in Ukraine on the last day of a presidential election guaranteed to see Vladimir Putin win another six-year term. IMAGES