The Italian parliament has adopted a resolution that Brussels will struggle to read without frowning. The document, prepared ahead of a European Council session, calls for the gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia once the war in Ukraine ends - and proposes it not as a concession, but as a negotiating tool.

The wording is carefully tailored. Italy still calls for support for Ukraine and its institutions, but introduces something Brussels has so far avoided: the question of what happens to the sanctions when the war is over. Instead of an open-ended punishment, the sanctions are treated as a lever on the negotiating table.

Until now, Brussels' position was simple - pressure on Russia continues indefinitely, with automatic extension of the sanctions. Rome's resolution is the first to loudly put forward an alternative, and it doesn't come from some fringe player, but from one of the EU's largest economies and member states, whose prosperity directly depends on stable energy supply.

And here the picture becomes more complicated than it looks. Behind the principled speeches about unity, every country also looks at its own electricity and gas bill. Italy is the first to say out loud what many calculate quietly. And when one speaks up, it usually doesn't stay alone for long - the only question is who will be the next to admit that unity also has a price paid at home.