Ahead of fresh talks due in Belarus between Russia and Ukraine on Thursday, constant dialogue between the warring sides is crucial, Italy's foreign under secretary Benedetto Della Vedova told Adnkronos.
"I don't have much trust in the sincerity of (Russian president Vladimir) Putin and his negotiators," Della Vedova said in a TV interview with Adnkronos Live.
"But I think it is vital to keep channels of political and diplomatic dialogue open between Kiev and Moscow, even if Russia's initial conditions were unacceptable," he said.
If the conditions are created for a ceasefire in Ukraine, the country's president Volodymyr Zelensky should take part in the talks, "despite the conditions of total disparity," Della Vedova stated.
Della Vedova said he believed Russia was committing war crimes by "deliberately targeting" civilians during its invasion of Ukraine that began last week. The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor is opening of a probe "in this direction", he recalled.
Despite Russia's military onslaught, the patriotism of Ukrainians had thwarted Putin's plan to bring their country swiftly back into Russia's orbit with the full-scale attack launched on 24 February, Della Vedova argued.
"This is having a big effect, as it creating major waves of (international) solidarity that are stopping governments from looking away," he said.
And while key player China will never align with the West on sanctions against Russia and its political and diplomatic isolation, the past week has seen "an increasingly cool attitude from Beijing towards Putin," said Della Vedova.
The "severe jolts to the international economy" caused by "this insane operation" are "a problem" for China's leader Xi Jinping, Della Vedova noted.
"The position that China is taking may have a very significant effect on this crisis," Della Vedova underlined.
