LONDON — Italy demanded EU leaders discuss loosening sanctions against Russia at a closed-door meeting of European diplomats earlier this month, according to two written accounts of the meeting seen by BuzzFeed News.



At the meeting of EU ambassadors, which took place in Brussels on Sept. 12, the Italian envoy asked counterparts to include the issue of European banks lending to Russia on the agenda of the next European Council meeting of EU heads of government and state, which will take place next month in the Belgian capital.

The Italian request will further raise concerns and questions about the government’s relationship with Moscow. Diplomats have previously told BuzzFeed News that they can’t understand why Italy’s new government prioritizes the issue to the extent that it does.

“The Italian government seems anxious to exit the European mainstream and constantly highlight differences. An Italy that seeks trouble is, however, the exact opposite of our interests as a country,” said Filippo Sensi, former spokesperson for two Italian ex–prime ministers, Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni.

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s interior minister and deputy prime minister, who has for years campaigned extensively for stopping the sanctions, has repeatedly called for dropping the measures since taking office earlier this year. He has also said that the annexation of Crimea was legitimate, and openly criticized the coordinated EU response to the use of a nerve agent in Salisbury that left a Russian double agent and his daughter in critical condition.