Italy Calls for Lifting EU Sanctions Against Russia to Achieve Ukraine Peace

Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, stated that since the U.S. roadmap to end the conflict in Ukraine requires review, it is still in its early stages.

According to Rokna, citing RT, the senior Italian diplomat added: “Europe will participate, because without Europe, no peace agreement can be reached. Europe has imposed sanctions on Russia, and therefore, for any peace agreement to be concluded, Europe must lift its sanctions.”

The Italian foreign minister further welcomed discussions on security guarantees for Ukraine and added that he hopes progress will make a “Christmas of peace” possible, noting that the West is now “waiting for Moscow’s responses.”

According to media reports, the initial plan drafted by the United States requires Ukraine not to join NATO, to relinquish parts of the newly incorporated Russian regions in Donbas that it still controls, to freeze front lines in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and to reduce the size of its army. The reports also state that the plan includes lifting sanctions on Russia.

Media outlets also reported that Ukrainian officials have agreed to the U.S. proposal in principle and that only technical details remain. Russia has said that it has received the general outline of the U.S. plan but has not held substantive negotiations with Washington.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the public speculation a “feast of information” and said that Moscow “does not engage in megaphone diplomacy.”

Russian officials say the country’s economy has adapted to Western sanctions imposed since 2014 and strengthened in 2022 after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. However, Peskov has said that Moscow remains open to cooperation with foreign businesses, even those that have left Russia—unless those companies directly support the Ukrainian military.