Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he’s starting to believe it’s “just a waste of time” to engage with his counterpart in Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

“I am beginning to think that those people are right when they say: “It is useless to talk to him, it’s just a waste of time”, - Draghi told Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera.

The prime minister said he believed French President Emmanuel Macron, who has tried to position himself at the forefront of the EU’s negotiations with Putin, is “right to try every possible avenue of dialogue”.

“But I have the impression that the horror of war with its carnage, with what they did to children and women, is completely independent of the words and phone calls that are made. So far, Putin’s goal has not been the search for peace, but the attempt to annihilate the Ukrainian resistance, occupy the country and entrust it to a friendly government”, - Draghi added.