Ukraine Crisis: EU cracks widen as Italy, Cyprus, Hungary urge truce
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Italy, backed by Hungary and Cyprus, has urged the European Union to call for a ceasefire in Ukraine and peace talks with Russia, according to the international wire service Reuters.
The stance from the trio puts them at odds with other EU member states determined to take a hard line with Moscow ahead of a summit next week.
Reuters says a draft concluding statement it has seen for the May 30-31 summit says the EU is "unwavering in its commitment to help Ukraine exercise its inherent right of self-defense against the Russian aggression."
At a meeting of EU envoys on Friday, Italy's ambassador proposed changes to the text, wanting it to refer to peace talks and set out an immediate ceasefire as one of the EU's first goals, Reuters says, citing people who attended the meeting. Hungary and Cyprus backed that proposal.
The former opposes a planned oil embargo, while the latter has concerns about a proposed ban on property sales to Russian citizens.
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