An Italian trade group is decrying the sanctions levied against Russia, saying it has hurt the economies of Europe more than it has harmed Russia.

In an interview with Russian news outlet RT on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Forum in Samarkand on Saturday, Vittorio Torrembini, president of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs in Russia, said that Western sanctions have proven a failure in destabilizing Russia and degrading its economic production.

Torrembini said, “if the goal of the sanctions was to bring Russia to its knees, that goal was not achieved.”

The business official went on, “Europe suffers more than Russia from these sanctions – poor people suffer, entrepreneurs who are losing their businesses, workers who are losing their jobs, people who are losing purchasing power due to high energy costs.”

Torrembini said Western governments now need “to take other measures” instead of sanctions, including the step of opening a dialogue with Moscow.

He emphasized, “Without dialogue, the issue of Ukraine… will not be resolved; without dialogue, nothing will happen.”

Torrembini pointed out that business could be a foundation for forming a new cooperation strategy between the EU and Russia. He noted however that many European companies are under pressure to not engage in business in Russia. However he noted, “stopping business is like stopping water with your hands,” as he noted he was hopeful political agendas would be unable to stifle business cooperation.

In September, Torrembini had said to reporters that almost all Italian corporations which had been forced to exit Russia due to Western sanctions over the previous several months had publicly stated they wished to return. He pointed out there were 110 such companies from Italy which were continuing to run production capacities in the sanctioned nation, while another 150 had maintained their presence there.