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Italian defense minister stresses importance of preserving dialogue with Russia

Guido Crosetto noted the importance of being "firm" in communication with Russia to help foster "a Russian ceasefire in Ukraine and to come to a just peace"

ROME, April 5. /TASS/. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto believes that maintaining dialogue with Russia, however difficult, is imperative, he said in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu.

On Wednesday, Lecornu held a telephone conversation with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

"This conversation (between Lecornu and Shoigu - TASS) dealt purely with the information exchange regarding counterterrorism," the Italian minister, who held a dialogue with his French counterpart the day before, said in a statement. Crosetto noted the importance of being "firm" in communication with Russia to help foster "a Russian ceasefire in Ukraine and to come to a just peace."

On Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu held his first telephone conversation with the French Armed Forces Minister since October 2022. The ministers discussed the terrorist attack in the Moscow Region and negotiations on Ukraine. Shoigu told the Armed Forces Minister that Moscow hopes that the French special services "were not behind the terrorist attack." The Russian Defense Ministry also stressed that during the talks, Lecornu "held firm that Ukraine and Western countries were not involved in the terrorist attack," shifting responsibility to the Islamic State organization (IS, banned in Russia). In turn, Shoigu emphasized that the investigation launched in connection with the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall would come to a conclusion and bring those responsible to justice.

Commenting on the Elysee Palace's statements about sending a French contingent to Ukraine, Shoigu pointed out to his counterpart that if they did this, it would "create problems for France itself," the Russian Defense Ministry reported after the conversation. Later, French President Emmanuel Macron deemed Shoigu's words threatening.

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