Italian Defense Minister Guido Crozetto called on Western countries to use all available diplomatic means to achieve peace in Ukraine, Il Messaggero reports.

According to the minister, economic sanctions against Russia have “failed,” so the West needs to make more efforts to diplomatically resolve the war in Ukraine. Crozetto noted that the West mistakenly believed that its sanctions could stop Russia.

“Instead, the only way to resolve this crisis is to involve everyone, first (to achieve) a truce and then peace,” the Italian defense minister said.

In response to a journalist's objection that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not show a desire to negotiate, Crozetto said that this was “a good reason for us to try harder.”

“We should not give up on any possible path of diplomacy, no matter how narrow it may be,” he emphasized.

However, Crozetto emphasized that Italy will continue to provide weapons to Ukraine, saying that this is aimed at obtaining “the time and conditions for achieving a truce and peace.”

The Italian defense minister also said that if Russian troops seize Kyiv, it will “inevitably lead to a clash with other states that will not accept Russian tanks on their borders.”