CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuters) -Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged unwavering assist for Ukraine after a gathering with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, by which they mentioned Kyiv’s plans to finish the battle with Russia and reconstruction efforts.
The conservative prime minister met the Ukrainian chief on the sidelines of the annual TEHA enterprise discussion board on Lake Como, as Italy prepares to host subsequent 12 months’s convention on Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Meloni instructed the discussion board Italy would by no means backtrack on its assist for Ukraine. The choice was not simply morally proper but additionally within the nationwide curiosity given it was aimed toward safeguarding guidelines designed to guard a rustic’s nationwide integrity, she stated.
“It is a selection that will not change,” she stated, including that China and India additionally had a “function to play” in resolving the battle. “The one factor that can’t occur is to assume that the battle could be solved by abandoning Ukraine.”
NATO Secretary Common Jens Stoltenberg on Friday referred to as on China to cease supporting Russia’s battle in Ukraine and stated Beijing’s help has been a big issue within the continuation of the battle. China has beforehand described related statements made by NATO as ‘malicious’ and biased.
Meloni described the concept that the end result of the battle had already been determined as “Russian propaganda”, including that Western assist had made eventual peace talks a chance.
“With an invasion, you do not have peace talks, you do not want a negotiating desk. The necessity for it emerges, if something, with a stalemate … the stalemate that now we have contributed to creating,” she stated.
Talking on the discussion board on Friday, Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine wanted the complete assist of its allies to be in a robust place for any future negotiations with Russia.
In a submit on X on Saturday, he stated he had mentioned his peace plans with Meloni, in addition to his reconstruction technique with a concentrate on Ukraine’s vitality system.
Earlier than assembly the Italian PM, the Ukrainian chief dined with dozens of Italian enterprise leaders forward of subsequent 12 months’s reconstruction convention.
On the dinner, Zelenskiy stated companies would be capable of bid for contracts and a digital platform for the reconstruction occasion could be launched in coming months.
