Ukraine: Di Maio urges truce to evacuate civilians

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 18 - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Friday called for an immediate truce in Ukraine to evacuate civilians.
    Di Maio said there was "no alternative to a diplomatic solution to seek, in the immediate future, a (general) ceasefire or at least a ceasefire at a local level that would permit the evacuation of civilians".
    Di Maio told a press conference with Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra that "we don't want to give up flanking the firmness of sanctions with attempts to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis".
    He said "we continue to insist on the channel of international mediation despite news of bombing and cowardly attacks on civilians.
    "We reaffirm the Italian government's firm conviction that there is no alternative to a diplomatic solution".
    Di Maio added that an EU asylum pact was needed to cope with the millions of refugees fleeing the Russsia-Ukraine war.
    Noting that they are estimated to top five million, he said "the response to this dramatic phenomenon can only be elaborated at a common level and be based on a solidarity approach." he said the crisis "urgently forces us to make progress in talks on the new migration and asylum pact, continuing discussions on the EU migration reform, which have received a strong impetus under the French presidency." On efforts to try to wean Italy and Europe off Russian gas, the foreign minister said he would soon make another international mission after those to Algeria, Qatar, Congo and Angola.
    Earlier Di Maio said the Russia-Ukraine war is Russian President Vladimir Putin's war and only he can stop or enlarge it.
    "This is Putin's war and only Putin can stop it or in a wicked way think of enlarging it ," he told RAI TV.
    "But there will never come actions that contribute to an escalation from us".
    Di Maio said he agreed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Putin was pretending to want peace.
    "One thing is apparent to all: 10 days ago (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky made an overture to Putin, but on the other side we are seeing a Russia that is only seeking to make believe that it wants a peace accord, but continues to strike not only military targets but also civilian havens." Di Maio added that of the around 2,600 Italians in Ukraine at the start of Russia's invasion on Thursday February 24, some 326 have remained there and "I think that number will continue to drop in the coming hours".
    He said the Italian foreign ministry's crisis unit was working every day to bring them out. (ANSA).