Italian Defense Minister Guido Croceto said in an interview published by Il Messaggero on Monday that sanctions against Russia had failed and asked the West to try to negotiate a diplomatic solution with President Vladimir Putin to end the war. In Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Guido Crocetto with Giorgia MeloniPhoto: Roberto Monaldo / LaPresse / Profimedia
Quito Crocetto told Il Messaggero newspaper that the West mistakenly believes that sanctions will deter Russian aggression and overestimates its economic influence in the world, News.ro reported.
“We must not spare any possible diplomatic avenue”
“Instead, the only way to solve this crisis is to involve everyone, first to get a peace and then to get peace,” Guido Grosseto said.
To the comment of the journalist who interviewed him that Putin did not want to negotiate, Crocetto replied: “This is a good reason for us to try hard. We must not give up any possible path of diplomacy, no matter how narrow it is.
Crocetto, however, defended Italy’s decision to continue sending arms to Ukraine, saying it was aimed at gaining “the time and conditions to achieve a ceasefire and peace”.
This year, Italy holds the rotating presidency of the G7, a group of seven major democracies.
Croceto also warned in the interview that if Russian troops invade Kiev, it will “inevitably lead to conflict with other countries that will not accept Russian tanks on their borders.”
The Italian minister believes Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive against Russia last summer was a mistake based on Russia’s military superiority. Croceto says he personally warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that it would be doomed to failure, but he didn’t listen.
“Unfortunately, I’m afraid Putin wants all of Ukraine”
Guido Grosseto criticizes French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about sending ground troops to Ukraine, which he considers too urgent.
“I don’t know how much he’s doing himself any favors, how much this difficult phase is benefiting him. It’s a phase that requires analytical skills, reasoning, tactical and diplomatic skills. It’s a moment without precedent in recent history. If we have to look for examples like him, we have dramatic The results are there: two world wars,” says the Italian minister.
On the other hand, Croceto admits: “Unfortunately, I’m afraid that Putin wants all of Ukraine, and nobody can assure us that he will stop at Ukraine. It’s clear that he has in mind an international order in which whoever is the strongest can, if and when, he wants other countries. takes
So shouldn’t it be stopped immediately in the bellicose manner Macron is referring to? – asked Crosetto.
“No, then we risk reaching a point of no return. We would have if Putin had the Baltic states or Poland in his sights, which is not impossible. “At that time, NATO’s obligation, enshrined in Article 5 of the Atlantic Treaty, was to deploy troops on the side of the attacked NATO country,” the minister said.
An Italian official is among those who have missed the target of allocating 2 percent of GDP to defense spending, which Trump says risks being “kicked out” from under the umbrella of collective security if he returns to power. It therefore demands that defense spending should no longer be taken into account in European rules for calculating the public deficit.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said Russia must be prevented from winning the war in Ukraine, implying there is no guarantee Moscow would not be at risk to its neighbors, including Romania and the Republic of Moldova. to achieve its strategic objectives.
The Élysée leader spoke again about the possibility of landing NATO troops in the occupied country, praising in an interview published by The Economist that Moscow “should ask ourselves the question” if Moscow “can break through the front line”. ” And if the Kiev authorities demand it.
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