ROME, Jan 26Italy is in favor of maintaining a dialogue with Russia on the situation in Ukraine, but is ready to fulfill its part of the obligations under the NATO deterrence strategy, Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini said. «We support and at the same time encourage any efforts and forums for exchange of views opened with Russia. we do not want to escalate tensions, on the contrary, we all hope to maintain and implement a constructive dialogue,» the head of the Italian military department said in an interview with the newspaper la Repubblica. «/>Yesterday, 15:08 Croatia will withdraw its military from NATO as the situation in Ukraine escalates. At the same time, Guerini pointed out the impossibility «to deviate in the slightest degree from the fundamental security principles that we are obliged to guarantee, fully aware of the consequences arising from a further deterioration of the situation.» The Alliance has envisaged strengthening deterrence measures on its eastern flank, in which Italy is participating in the framework of operations and missions already approved by Parliament.If further decisions are taken, still within the framework of the NATO deterrence strategy, Italy will contribute and fulfill its part of the obligations, again confirming the value of the cohesion of the alliance,» the head of the Defense Ministry assured. Recently, the United States and Western countries have been accusing Russia of allegedly intensifying «aggressive actions» on the border with Ukraine. Moscow denies the unsubstantiated allegations, saying that no one should be interested in how Russia moves troops within its territory, has no plans to invade Ukraine, and has never threatened the Ukrainian people. The Russian Federation stresses that claims of Moscow's «aggression» are being used as an excuse to place more NATO military infrastructure near Russian borders. 08No NATO member ready to send troops to Ukraine, Johnson says
