Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Sunday accused his own party, the Five Star Movement, of undermining government efforts to support Ukraine and weakening Rome's position in the European Union, Reuters reported.

His statement could signal an imminent split in the group he once led, and Five Star officials are due to meet later Sunday to discuss Di Maio's position after other recent speeches.

The intra-party feud is also creating problems for Prime Minister Mario Draghi as he faces an important vote in parliament on Ukraine on Tuesday, with some Five Star lawmakers wanting to limit Italy from sending further arms to Kyiv.

In his statement, Di Maio said the government must defend the values of democracy and freedom, adding that while everyone wants peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin is waging war.

Against this backdrop, he said his party leaders are attacking him with "hate" and causing problems for the government with its European partners.

"This is an immature attitude that tends to create tension and instability within the government," he added.

There was no quick comment from the Five Star leader, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Earlier Sunday, one of Conte's supporters, Riccardo Riccardi, said Di Maio had turned his back on his political family and must face the consequences.

"The Five Star Movement is the largest political force in parliament after receiving 33% of the vote in the 2018 national elections. Since then, however, its fortunes have suffered as the party has lost its anti-establishment identity on which it came to power.

Recent opinion polls show that if the election had been held last weekend, the Five Stars would have gotten about 13% of the vote, while it only got 3% of the vote in local elections last weekend.

Di Maio blamed Conte for the loss of ratings, and the latter said that the Five Stars are paying the price for being part of Draghi's broad coalition.

Party officials said they "pounced" on Di Maio because the Five Star leadership said it would enforce an old rule that its members could not run for re-election after two consecutive terms in parliament, a measure that would prevent Di Maio from being a candidate next time.

If Di Maio leaves the party, a group of supporters could follow him and create a splinter party in parliament, causing new turmoil in the Draghi administration.