ROME, October 3. /TASS/. Farnesina Secretary-General Ettore Francesco Sequi said after a meeting on Monday with Russian Ambassador to Rome Sergey Razov that he had summoned the Russian envoy to protest the referendums on the accession of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics as well as the Kherson and the Zaporozhye Regions to Russia.

"We strongly condemn the farce referendums, illegally conducted by the Russian Federation in violation of all international norms. Italy does not intend to recognize their outcome," Sequi told reporters following the event which he said was a joint initiative with the country’s European Union partners.

He also vowed that Italy, "in line with its partners," would support any new restrictions against Russia. The situation around the sabotage on Nord Stream gas pipelines was not discussed, the Italian diplomat specified.