Italian Defence Minister called on the West to negotiate with Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that economic sanctions against Russia had failed. He also called on the West to make more efforts for diplomatic talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
"The only way to resolve this crisis is to involve everyone, first [to obtain] a truce, and then peace," Mr. Crosetto said.
However, the Defence Minister defended Italy's decision to continue sending weapons to Ukraine, saying that was done in order to gain ‘time and conditions to achieve a truce and peace’. Mr. Crosetto also noted that Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia last summer was a mistake, given the military superiority of the Russian Federation, and he personally warned the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the decision was doomed to failure – ‘but I wasn’t listened to’.
