Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto claimed that Ukraine lacks the capacity to reclaim territories occupied by Russia, while Moscow will never voluntarily cede them, according to ANSA and RAI.
"Reconquering the territories lost in 2014 and after February 2022 is now considered impossible by everyone," Crosetto said in an interview with journalist Bruno Vespa for the book "Finimondo," set for release on 30 October by Mondadori-Rai Libri. "Russia will never cede them and Ukraine will not have the strength to reconquer them on its own, even with our help."
The minister explained that Putin "has put himself in a position where he cannot negotiate" after incorporating four Ukrainian oblasts and Crimea into the Russian constitution. "Putin cannot go back also because he changed the constitution making the occupied territories 'Russian' in all respects," Crosetto noted.
When Vespa asked whether US President Donald Trump would be willing to agree to territorial cessions, Crosetto responded: "The first hypothesis made by the President of the United States is to talk about cessions."
On whether Ukraine could accept the loss of the four occupied provinces, the minister replied: "I don't know. It is only for them to decide whether the greater sacrifice is the cession of territories or the continuation of a bloody war that could worsen."
Crosetto cited casualty figures: "Ukrainian deaths are 520,000, Russian deaths more than 1 million. The difference is that Ukrainians know their losses, the Russian people have no idea."
The minister also addressed Russia's hybrid warfare against Italy. "Russia is already attacking us with a hybrid and cognitive war," Crosetto said. "Without us even noticing, as ordinary citizens, its propaganda has entered the brain and cultural formation of many people, directing them through sophisticated use of social media and other information tools, with scientific infiltration and also with the classic infiltration of corruption."
"Unsuspecting Italian persons have been corrupted by Russia," Crosetto added in the book.
He suggested that Italy, as "the only stable country in Europe," has become "the main target" for "enemies who want to destabilize it."
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said that Ukraine will not agree to territorial concessions to Russia, which seeks to fully capture Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. He added that Putin would need years and millions of soldiers to completely occupy the Donetsk Oblast alone.
