A sixth round of European Union sanctions against Russia over its almost-12-week-old invasion of Ukraine must be approved "as soon as possible", Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday in Brussels.
"Italy has been clear about sanctions from the start - we will not veto anything and strongly believe that sanctions are the only available instrument to get (Russia's president Vladimir) Putin to negotiate a peace deal," Di Maio said.
"And this sixth package of sanctions must be approved as soon as possible because we need to keep sending a clear signal to Putin and to the Russian economy: we strongly condemn his invasion of Ukraine and believe that weakening him economically is the only way to achieve a negotiated peace," Di Maio stated.
Di Maio was speaking at an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels where Ukraine, the Balkans, Afghanistan and relations with China were among topics on the agenda.
