President Sergio Mattarella on
Wednesday stressed the role Italy's diplomatic network can play
in the process of diversifying energy supplies to end the
nation's reliance on Russian gas in a message to the conference
of Italian ambassadors at the foreign ministry in Rome.
"The conflict (in Ukraine) has shown a dangerous side in the
area of global economic relations," Mattarella said.
"I am certain that, in this situation, the diplomatic corps will
continue to facilitate the effort to diversify energy-supply
sources that we are strongly engaged in and, at the same time,
accompany our productive system as it looks to the wider world,
something that our future prosperity depends on to a significant
degree".
The head of State reiterated his condemnation of Russia's
invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine has thrown into doubt the
rules that we based our peaceful coexistence on - an order based
on the respect of international law," Mattarella said.
"At this time in history, the diplomatic service has the
difficult task of protecting this resource, which stands on the
pillars of the process of European integration and the
multilateral system represented by the United Nations, as well
as our solid position within the framework of the Atlantic
alliance".
He also lambasted Tehran's brutal repression of the protests
there, saying that Iran has gone beyond "every limit".
Mattarella did not attend the conference as planned as he has
contracted COVID-19.
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