Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on Thursday refuted Russia’s allegations that the Italians are supplying anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, saying they are “completely false, baseless and gravely defamatory”.
Italy signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Mines (Ottawa Treaty) on December 3, 1997 and became a party to the same treaty on October 1, 1999,” recalled the Italian minister.
The country “does not even produce or supply landmines to any country in the world, including Ukraine,” Crosetto underlined, refuting the accusation made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova during a daily meeting with the press on Wednesday.
In addition to accusing Italy of supplying these war materials to Ukrainian troops, Zakharova, quoted by international news agencies, also stated that Rome could not mediate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia because “it takes an unequivocal and very aggressive stance” against the Russian government . .
The Italian defense minister described how “completely false, baseless and grossly defamatory” of her country’s honor, said the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24, 2022 and still continuing, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine, in addition to financial and humanitarian support, and imposing on Moscow against unprecedented political and economic sanctions.
The military offensive has displaced more than 14 million people in and out of the country and, according to the UN, more than 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The UN presented 6,919 civilian deaths and 11,075 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, emphasizing that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
