MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Rome is not considering the possibility of becoming involved in ground operations in Syria, Italian Ambassador to Italy Cesare Maria Ragaglini said.
"Italy is the second country on the international arena in regard to the volume of its involvement in various operations in providing security, through the UN and through the European Union and NATO. So we can say that Italy participates pretty actively and participates with its material and human resources…"
"This must always be kept in mind when talking about additional obligations. In regard to the possibility of a ground operation in Syria, then this is not on Italy’s agenda," Ragaglini told RIA Novosti in an interview.
In early December 2015, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi stressed that his country had no intention of joining a US-led coalition’s air campaign in Syria.
Syria has been in a state of a civil war since political protests in 2011 escalated into an armed conflict. Government forces have been fighting on multiple fronts, against moderate opposition factions and numerous extremist insurgent groups, including Daesh and the Nusra Front, both banned in Russia.
Italy Counting on Russia to Put Intra-Syrian Talks on Constructive Track
“You know, everyone is criticized on the Syrian issue, sometimes more, sometimes less, and I wouldn’t say the talks have failed. It’s clear that the postponement of the talks to February 25 wasn’t good,” Ragaglini said.
He said that this should serve as “a stimulus so the international community puts in maximum effort in cooperating with all of the sides so that these negotiations take place and so that the position of the parties taking part in them has a maximally constructive character and we’re counting on Russia for this.”
Italy Trains 2,000 Iraqi Soldiers to Fight Daesh
Italian military specialists have provided training to 2,000 soldiers of the Iraqi army to fight Daesh, the Italian ambassador to Russia said.
"Italy actively participates in solving the Iraqi problem. Instability in Iraq has a direct impact on the situation in Syria. Italy is engaged in training of the military specialists, we provide training to the Iraqi servicemen and the [Kurdish] Peshmerga fighters, because they are the backbone of the [army] units that are actively fighting Daesh," Ragaglini told RIA Novosti.
The total number of the Iraqi soldiers trained by the Italian specialists amounts to 2,000, he noted.
"In addition to that, in the near future Italy is going to send a limited contingent of its military to guard the Mosul Dam. Mosul is of strategic importance," Ragaglini outlined.
In June 2014, Daesh took hold of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and also managed to seize the largest dam in Iraq, which is now at risk of collapsing and causing a major humanitarian catastrophe.
The US-led international coalition against Daesh has been launching airstrikes against the terror group’s positions in Iraq since August 2014.
