The Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, defended in parliament the sending of weapons to the Ukrainian resistance and called for the unity of the country in the face of the “difficult” decisions that must be taken in this regard.
“There is a fundamental difference between two points of view. mine first, according to which Ukraine must defend itself and sanctions and arms shipments serve that purpose. And the other point, that Ukraine should not defend itself, we should not sanction (Russia) or send more weapons,” Draghi said.
Draghi went to Parliament to define Italy’s position at this week’s European Council, and he does so after the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right League, two key partners in his coalition, criticized the shipment of weapons to kyiv. .
M5S pressured the government to change lines and choose to stop arming the Ukrainian resistance, albeit to no availwhich caused a split in the movement with the departure, this Tuesday, of one of its founders, Luigi Di Maio, who as Minister of Foreign Affairs criticized “the ambiguity” of the party’s leadership in relation to the issue of the Russian invasion of Ukraine .
Draghi lamented that there are positions that believe that “Russia is too strong to fight and that is to let her in and allow Ukraine to submit.”
Are Europe’s sanctions to blame? No, the fault lies with Russia that declared war on Ukraine”, she exclaimed, in a speech in the Chamber of Deputies that she was applauded.
Draghi accused Russia of the “humanitarian tragedy that hangs over the poorest countries as a result of famine and food crisis” due to grain blockade in the Black Sea.
“Unity is essential at this time because the decisions we have to make are very difficult, because they have to do with the war, but also with our internal economic and social situation,” the prime minister said.
Parties in Mario Draghi’s national unity coalition drafted a resolution on Italy’s position in which they agreed that any decision would go through parliament, including sending weapons.
The resolution, which caused the schism in the M5S, was approved this Tuesday in the Senate and will be put to a vote in the Chamber of Deputies this Wednesday.
Source: Observadora
