Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi called on Sunday for NATO and the European Union to ask former German Chancellor Angela Merkel to mediate in the Ukraine conflict.
The 67-year-old former chancellor was one of the few people equal to the task of negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Renzi told Italy's La Stampa daily.
"She is the only one who can speak in Moscow, Washington and all the capital cities and will be listened to," Renzi said.
"Do we want to leave her on pension while the world is reduced to rubble?" he added.
Merkel, who speaks Russian, had numerous encounters with the Russian president during her 16 years in office that ended in December.
Renzi, who headed the Italian government from February 2014 to December 2016, said in a tweet two days ago that NATO and the EU should deploy Merkel as a special envoy to Putin, describing the former German leader as "respected and influential enough to stop this massacre."
