NATO's strategy in Ukraine has failed to generate the desired outcome, rather Russia was able to defeat the military coalition's declared objectives to destroy the Russian economy and disintegrate its military despite record sanctions and historic collective pressure, former Italian Prime Minister and leader of the opposition 5 Stelle (Five Star) Movement party, Giuseppe Conte, said on Saturday,

"The strategy pursued so far in NATO, based on constant military supplies to Ukraine and the escalation logic, has not resulted in the desired military defeat of Russia. Quite the opposite. There was no defeat of the Russian army in Bakhmut [Artemovsk], no disintegration of its military units, no retreat during the Ukrainian counteroffensive," the prominent opposition figure wrote on Facebook.

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Economic sanctions against Russia "did not lead to its bankruptcy and did not undermine its economy," he said, adding that bets to internally destabilize the country have failed "in the face of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's strengthening leadership and growing domestic consensus."

Furthermore, Western attempts to corner Russia and isolate it from the rest of the world "by no means become a reality," he continued.

"On the contrary. The 15th summit of the BRICS group, led by Russia and China, has just wrapped up, with the concrete prospect of its further expansion in 2024, which will cover 45% of the world's population and 38.2% of global GDP."

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The war in Ukraine "exposed the European Union's inability to develop an effective common strategy and to exercise independent political and economic leadership," Conte said, noting that he believed that European leaders were subordinate to Washington.

Lately, more European officials have become more vocal in criticizing the policies of the US, NATO, and the EU regarding the conflict in Ukraine.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto admitted on Saturday that the bloc's anti-Russia sanctions policy was directly orchestrated by the US and has led the EU to become a laughing stock for the world as aggressive measures adopted by Kiev's Western allies continue to backfire on European economies.

"The USA has pushed Europe into the competition of who will help Ukraine and how much: a military aid competition," he said, pointing out that European officials "accepted this provocation" even though "we are literally destroying Europe."

It would be a "baroque and poetic exaggeration" to say that Western sanctions on Moscow have succeeded in crippling the country's economy, he said, adding that "everywhere in the world, the European sanctions policy is being laughed at."

"The only morally tenable position is [that] the war must end this minute," Szijjarto concluded bitterly.

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