Italy will not hold any high-level
bilateral meetings with Russia until there is a de-escalation of
the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told the
Senate on Wednesday as he reported to parliament on the crisis.
Rome and Moscow had been working to arrange a meeting between
Italian Premier Mario Draghi and Russian President Vladimir
Putin before the latter recognized two rebel-held 'republics'
in the east of Ukraine this week and sent in troops.
"This morning we organized the next steps with take with Premier
Draghi to aid a diplomatic solution," Di Maio said.
"We are engaged at the top multilateral channels of dialogue.
"However, we believe that there can be no bilateral meetings
with the Russian leadership until there are tension-easing
signals, a stance that has been adopted over the last few hours
by our allies and European partners.
"We condemn the decision by Moscow to sent a contingent of
troops with so-called peace-keeping functions to the territories
of the two separatist republics," he added.
"This is a gesture that risks exacerbating an already tense
situation.
"It is estimated that there are between 170,000 and 190,000
Russian soldiers along the border with Ukraine".
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