Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday he was leaving the 5-Star Movement to form a new parliamentary group backing the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Di Maio's move comes after he accused 5-Star leader and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of undermining government efforts to support Ukraine and weakening Rome's standing within the European Union.
"Today's is a difficult decision I never imagined I would have to take ... but today me and lots of other colleagues and friends are leaving the 5-Star Movement," Di Maio, himself a former 5-Star leader, told a news conference.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones)
