Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio will fly to Kyiv Tuesday ahead of a visit to Moscow for crisis talks aimed at averting a Russian invasion, ministry sources said Monday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s office confirmed Di Maio was expected on Wednesday.
“We are determined to pass clear, unified, firm messages to Moscow… that discourage any aggression or escalation,” Di Maio said at a meeting with Qatar’s foreign minister earlier Monday.
Italy is working “in close coordination with our European partners and allies, NATO and OSCE”, he said, on stopping a crisis considered the worst threat to the continent’s security since the Cold War.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded a rollback of Western influence in eastern Europe and a ban on Ukraine joining NATO.
The United States has warned that Russia’s forces are poised to attack Ukraine, and the western allies have prepared what they warn would be a crippling package of economic sanctions in response.
Source: National News Agency