Guido Crosetto, the Italian Minister of Defense, said in an interview published on Monday, May 6, by the daily newspaper Il Messaggero, that the economic sanctions against Russia have failed and he asks the West to try instead to negotiate a diplomatic solution with President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, reports Reuters.
The Italian defense minister told the daily Il Messaggero that the West mistakenly believed that sanctions could stop Russia’s aggression and overestimated its economic influence in the world.
“Instead, the only way to solve this crisis is to involve everyone, first (to get) a truce and then peace,” said Guido Crosetto. To the objection of the journalist who interviewed him that Putin was not willing to negotiate, Crosetto replied: “This is a good reason for us to try harder. We must not give up any possible path of diplomacy, no matter how narrow it may be”.
However, Crosetto defended Italy’s decision to continue sending weapons to Ukraine, saying it was aimed at buying “time and conditions to achieve a truce and peace”.
This year, Italy holds the rotating presidency of the G7, the group of the seven great democracies.
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Crosetto also warned in the interview that if Russian troops occupied Kiev, this would “inevitably lead to a clash with other countries, which would not accept Russian tanks on their borders.”
The Italian minister is also of the opinion that Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive against Russia last summer was a mistake, given Russia’s military superiority. Crosetto claims that he personally warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that it was doomed to failure, but “he was not listened to”.
Guido Crosetto also criticizes French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about sending ground troops to Ukraine, considering that he was too hasty. “I don’t know how much he benefits himself, nor how much this very difficult phase benefits him. It is a phase that requires analytical capacity, rationality, tactical and diplomatic competence. It is a moment that has no similar precedent in recent history. If we have to look for examples that resemble him, we have dramatic results: the two world wars”, says the Italian minister.
On the other hand, Crosetto admits: “Unfortunately, I’m afraid that Putin wants all of Ukraine and, moreover, no one can assure us that he will stop at Ukraine. It is clear that he has in mind an international order, in which whoever is stronger, if and when he wants, takes the other countries”.
Shouldn’t it therefore be stopped immediately, in the warlike manner Macron indicates? Crosetto was asked. “No, then we risk reaching a point of no return. Just as we would have done if Putin had put the Baltic countries or Poland in his sights, which is not at all impossible. At that moment, NATO would have the obligation, inscribed by Article 5 of the Atlantic Treaty, to deploy militarily on the side of the NATO country that is attacked”, said the minister.
The Italian official, whose country is among those that have missed its target of allocating 2 percent of GDP to defense spending, says that if Trump comes back to power, there is a risk of being “kicked out” from under the umbrella of collective security and therefore demands that defense expenses are no longer taken into account in the European rules for calculating the public deficit.
Regarding the war in Gaza, the minister emphasized that Rome was on Israel’s side from the beginning, but warned: “We have reached the point where Netanyahu’s government must understand that all these civilian casualties in Gaza are no longer acceptable. Many realize that it is time to fight Hamas in a different way.”
Commenting on the protests in Italian universities and the supporters the Palestinians have among the youth and teachers, Guido Crosetto remarked: “What strikes me is that I have never seen a student protest against Russia. Maybe because Ukrainian children are considered children of a lesser God”.
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Tags: Italian Minister Defense calls armistice Ukraine peace talks Putin international order mind
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