Sanctions against Russia over role in the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine are "a means to an end," Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano told a conference in Rome on Friday.
"For Italy, sanctions against Russia over Ukraine are a means to an end, which is peace an the restoration of law and order," Alfano told the Transatlantic Forum on Russia.
Italy has alway had a special 'partnership' with Russia and its foreign policy has always been "very clear", Alfano stated
"This is initiating dialogue based on the principle of keeping channels of communication open to prevent the escalations of tensions between countries," he stated.
The only way to solve the issue of sanctions is to implement the Minsk accords, Alfano said.
The Minsk accords call for a ceasefire between Kiev forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in the conflict that has killed 10,000 people since it began in 2014 as well as Constitutional reforms to protect the rights of people in eastern Ukraine.
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