The Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, spoke this Wednesday (30) for about an hour with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, regarding the war in ukraine and the supply of gas to Europe.
“President Putin, I'm calling you to talk about peace,” Draghi said as he began the call, according to a report from the Italian government.
During the dialogue, the prime minister called for the institution of a ceasefire “as soon as possible” and reiterated his availability to contribute to pacification between Moscow and Kiev, as long as Russia shows “clear signs of de-escalation”.
Putin, according to the Kremlin, spoke about the results of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul and described to Draghi the project to demand that European countries pay for Russian gas and oil in rubles. The two leaders also agreed to “stay in touch”.
Italy has already offered to be one of the countries that would provide security guarantees to Ukraine in exchange for its non-membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
This mechanism is a demand from Kiev to give up joining the Atlantic alliance, but it does not yet have the support of Western powers.
The instrument provides for the formation of a group of countries capable of responding within 24 hours in the event of possible external aggression against Ukraine, including military assistance, supply of weapons and closure of airspace.
In exchange for non-membership in NATO, Kiev also wants Russia to leave its path clear for eventual entry into the European Union. “I am grateful to Italy for standing firm with Ukraine at this difficult time”, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter after a conversation with his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio.
“We discussed new sanctions against Russia and other ways Italy can help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,” Kuleba added. Di Maio said that the priorities must be the continuation of negotiations between Kiev and Moscow and a “humanitarian truce that leads us to peace”. (HANDLE)
