Italy refuses to support French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to send NATO military instructors to Ukraine, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday.
Tajani, who is also foreign minister in the Rome government, also said Italy is “against all forms of escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine.”
“Putin is conducting election propaganda. We stand for respect for the independence of Ukraine, but we will not send soldiers to Ukraine and we will not send weapons to Russian territory,” Tajani told Italian television, as quoted by the Ansa news agency.
“Macron’s position is not the position of Italy, we should not follow anyone: we must avoid escalation. We are not at war with Russia. Election campaigns are underway (in the European bloc), and Putin is trying to divide a united Europe,” he said. Antonio Tajani.
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly stated that the forces of the Atlantic Alliance “will ultimately be needed in Ukraine.”
The leader of the Italian League party, Matteo Salvini, accused Tajani of splitting the Italian government coalition “because of Ukraine.”
Antonio Tajani rejected internal criticism, saying he was a “patriot” and recalling that “he was a NATO operative.”
“I never spoke about secession. I don’t engage in polemics, but I also don’t take lessons from anyone when we talk about Italy and the Fatherland,” Tajani said of Salvini’s criticism.
Former President of the European Parliament and two-time European Commissioner Antonio Tajani, 70, is a former Italian Air Force pilot and journalist.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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