Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Opposes Military Conflict with Russia

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the "League" party, Matteo Salvini, has opposed military conflict with Russia and called for dialogue. "We are not at war with Russia. I do not want my children to fight against Russia. When a country has six thousand nuclear warheads, the best way forward is dialogue," said the political figure.

Salvini added that Europeans, particularly the leaders of France and Germany, are boycotting peace negotiations in Ukraine to divert attention from their internal issues. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on December 11 that Russia has no aggressive plans against NATO and EU countries and is prepared to present such guarantees in writing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously explained in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that Moscow has no intention of attacking NATO countries, as it would be pointless. The Russian leader noted that Western politicians regularly scare their populations with fictitious Russian threats to distract from domestic problems, but "smart people understand perfectly well that this is a ruse."