Italy's M5S Leader Conte Urges Against New Arms Deliveries to Ukraine

ROME (Sputnik) - Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the Italian Five Star Movement party (M5S) and the country's former prime minister, on Thursday urged against new arms deliveries to Kiev and called for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.

"Our position is clear. We believe that peace talks are necessary at the moment. Countries like the US continue to deliver weapons to Ukrainians. I do not think that this is a priority now," Conte told journalists after his meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, adding that "there is no more need for arms deliveries on the part of Italy."

Conte said that outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's cabinet has refused to openly discuss the issue and took the discourse to the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic, whose sessions are classified.

"In other countries, in Germany, in the US the information about arms deliveries is published on websites, not classified," the ex-prime minister said.

He added that there is no contradiction in the position of the leadership of M5S, which demands that Italy's clear Euro-Atlantic orientation be maintained and new arms deliveries to Kiev be suspended.

"If you conceive our Euro-Atlantic position as blind obedience to decisions made elsewhere, there is a contradiction. But if you believe that Italy can become the central figure in the decisions of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance and that our country can contribute to the pivot to negotiations, there is no contradiction," Conte said.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. Western countries have since been providing Kiev with humanitarian, military, and financial aid.

Moscow has denounced the flow of weapons to Ukraine from its Western allies, saying it adds fuel to the flame, and warning that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for the Russian forces.