Italy supports the European Union's decision to recall its ambassador to Russia for consultations amid a diplomatic row sparked by the poisoning of former spy Serghei Skripal but also wants to avoid an "escalation" in the case, premier Paolo Gentiloni said in Brussels on Friday.
"Italy gave with great clarity its assent" to the conclusions of the summit of EU leaders that it was "highly probable" that Russia was responsible for the nerve agent attack on Skripal and his daughter in the English town of Salisbury earlier this month, Gentiloni said after the summit.
But condemning Russia over the Skripal must not "automatically" lead to an escalation of tensions and "does not close off the necessary avenues for dialogue with Russia, which are important in a delicate geopolitical moment like the one we are going through," Gentiloni said.
The Skripals remain in a critical condition in hospital in the UK and their attempted murder has sparked a major diplomatic rift between the British and Russian governments.
