Moscow: “Excluding meetings is a hostile act of Rome” – “Italy seriously violated its mandate as president” by banning Russian experts from attending a meeting opened in Rome on operational issues of the anti-proliferation initiative (PSI). That’s what Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, quoted by TASS, said. Moscow, Zakharova added, “considers this move by Rome hostile. This is another provocative attack on Russia.”
“We are outraged that Italy has withdrawn the invitation previously addressed to Russia to the Operational Expert Group (GEOV) meeting. We protest vigorously,” Zakharova emphasizes. “This is another provocative attack on Russia. By barring our experts from attending the event, Italy grossly violated its powers, completely undermined its credibility and expressed its reluctance to perform the presidential duties conscientiously and impartially and to organize multilateral events,” says Zakharova. “Such actions, which appear to be an attempt to isolate Russia, are unacceptable and destructive,” he concluded.
Farnesina: “Moscow doubts exclusion of PSI meetings” – The Foreign Ministry replied that the decision not to involve the Russian experts was taken in agreement with the main countries involved in the initiative. “In the spirit of transparency – Farnesina stresses in a note – this has been announced by Italy in its capacity as the current President of the Russian Federation.
Expulsion for attacking Ukraine and non-cooperative attitude – “The exclusion – writes Farnesina – is not only motivated by the brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine – (here the latest news on the conflict: Putin faces the threat of a global conflict). Non-Proliferation Conference. Already in 2014 and 2015, the Russian Federation was temporarily barred from similar exercises in view of the Russian intervention in Crimea and developments in Donbass. From this point of view, the statements released today by the spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry appear completely flimsy”.
What is the Proliferation Security Initiative (Psi) – there Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a global effort aimed at stopping the trade in weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. Proposed by US President George W. Bush in May 2003 at a meeting in Kraków, Poland, PSI has now grown to be supported by 105 nations around the world. Major participating countries include Russia, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, New Zealand, Republic of Korea and Norway. Despite the support of more than half of UN members, several countries have spoken out against the initiative, including India, China and Indonesia. The PSI has no central body or secretariat and is not a real ban coordinator. It is a political commitment, a flexible international cooperation agreement and is consistent with national and international legal authorities. The acceding countries strive for a solid capacity to implement bans, which usually involve only two or three governments.