“On Forza Italia’s part there is no hesitation in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine”
For Silvio Berlusconi the Russian president Vladimir ‘Putin was a big disappointment’. This was stated by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Sky Tg24. Since the beginning of the war “there have never been contacts between Berlusconi and Putin”Tajani added, reiterating that the leader of Forza Italia said he was “disappointed by an interlocutor who has changed his attitude. We condemn the decision to attack Ukraine, none of us can accept it”. “On Forza Italia’s part, there is no hesitation in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, remarked the deputy prime minister.
On the peace plan presented by Beijing, Tajani commented that it is “positive that China is starting to talk more and more about peace”, but “it is a proposal with light and dark”. The “creation of a free zone around Zaporizhzhia”, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was positive, and “the question of wheat is also important”. But “there are positions that don’t coincide with ours because there is talk of a ceasefire that should start with the current situation” and “there is no talk of the withdrawal of Russian troops”, explained Tajani. “The Russians have violated international law, invaded a part of Ukraine, and the Chinese are not taking note of that,” she continued.
Positive, added the deputy premier, that “in Switzerland there are meetings, albeit not of the highest level, between Russians and Ukrainians to try to find an agreement”. In any case, Italy is committed and “will do its part” to bring about “a just peace” for Ukraine, which means “independence and respect for international law”.
With the resolution approved by the United Nations “a message has been sent to Russia” and “we are moving in the right direction”, said Tajani. “Italy is the protagonist of this resolution which is very balanced and non-aggressive” and which “aims at the withdrawal of Russian troops and at a strategy for peace”, he added.
The Foreign Minister then reiterated that “for the moment, sending planes” to Ukraine “is not on the agenda”. “The question of jets is complicated because these planes need highly qualified pilots”, continued Tajani, explaining that “it takes months to train well” the pilots. Furthermore, “we need uniform planes, we cannot send planes of different types”, added the owner of the Farnesina.
“No one wants to wage war on Russia. We are committed to defending Ukraine’s independence”, underlined the minister, and “weapons are not used to strike Russia, but to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The concept is very clear: we are defending Ukraine and not attacking Russia”. “We have nothing against the Russian people and against Russia”, he remarked again, “we condemn the attitude of the leaders of the Russian Federation, we criticize the invasion. The Russian people are not responsible for the decisions of Putin and his collaborators” .
Source-www.adnkronos.com