(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 19 - Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday rejected Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's claim Italy was leading the effort to help Ukraine against Moscow because an anti-Russian stance had been forced upon it.
    He said it was not Rome that was anti-Russian, but Russia which was against the West.
    "We are not the anti-Russian front, it is Russia that has made the anti-Western front because by invading Ukraine it has made a choice by violating international law," Tajani told Agorà on Rai3, responding to a question on yesterday's accusations against Italy by Lavrov.
    "We defend international law, we defend the rules, we defend a democratic country.
    "Nobody is imposing anything on us, we are a free and democratic country, where there is a parliament that decides what to do".
    Lavrov said Wednesday Moscow was surprised that Italy is among the leaders of the international effort to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.
    "It was a surprise for us to see Italy becoming one of the leaders in the anti-Russian front", Lavrov said in answering an ANSA question at a press conference in Moscow.
    The Russian foreign minister went on to say that he loved Italians and that Rome's stance against Russian aggression had been forced on it.
    "I like Italians, they are very similar to Russians, and Russians like the Italian way of life. I cannot see them as people who build walls and barriers. The attitude of confrontation (with Russia) has been imposed on Europe", and therefore also on Italy," Lavrov told ANSA at the press conference. (ANSA).