FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte speaks during his end-of-year news conference in Rome, Italy, December 28, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday he was working to try to end international sanctions against Russia, which the ruling parties in Rome say are ineffective and hurt the Italian economy.

Speaking at a foreign policy conference in Genova, Conte said the sanctions, imposed after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, must never become an end in themselves.

When asked if Italy wanted them lifted, he replied: “We are working for this objective.”