MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Russia cannot view Italy as a guarantor of the potential peace process around Ukraine due to Rome’s biased stance against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

The diplomat was asked to comment on the reports that Rome was poised to act as a guarantor of peace settlement in Ukraine. In particular, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that at a press conference on December 29, 2022.

"Obviously, with regard to the biased position taken by Italy, we cannot view it either as ‘an honest broker’ or a possible guarantor of the peace process," Zakharova said in her response to a media question published on the ministry’s website.

Zakharova pointed out that "many countries pledge their readiness to take part in resolving the Ukraine crisis, and some even openly offer us their mediation services."

"Pope Francis, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and other heads of state and government, politicians and public figures have spoken about it," she continued. "Some are sincere in doing so, but others are motivated by their self-interest, trying to wedge themselves into the negotiation process for foreign policy benefits."

"However, we find it strange to hear proposals for mediation from the countries that since the very beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine have taken an unambiguous and very aggressive anti-Russian position, not only supporting the bloody Kiev regime, but also providing it with substantial military and military-technical assistance and intentionally pumping the cutting-edge weapons into Ukraine," Zakharova said.

According to the diplomat, "Along with a wide range of weapons and military equipment, Italy also supplies Kiev with anti-personnel mines."

Zakharova pointed out that "not only do those irresponsible actions multiply casualties, including among the civilian population in Donbass, and drag out the end of the conflict, but they also risk dragging NATO countries into direct military confrontation with Russia."

"Nevertheless, Kiev’s Western handlers, with Italy regrettably among them, have no intention of stopping and, on the contrary, are stepping up their supplies," she said.

"It would be better if European pseudo-peacemakers halted their military boost of Kiev and focused their efforts on working more firmly and demandingly with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who has repeatedly reiterated his total aversion to a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and even signed a decree on September 30, 2022 to reject negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.