“Italy is with Kiev and we won't waver. Ukrainian interests coincide with those of Europe”. The prime minister said so Giorgia Meloni during the joint press conference with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Arriving in Kiev for her first visit to Ukraine, a few days before the anniversary of the Russian invasion, Giorgia Meloni reiterated Italy's full and convinced support "for the battle for freedom she is carrying on with her people" , but also in the reconstruction of her. “Italy will give every possible assistance to create the conditions for a negotiation, but until then it will give every kind of military, financial and civilian support. Those who support Ukraine even militarily are those who work for peace”. You said the Italian premier adding that Italy “intends to play a leading role in the reconstruction of this country. We are working on a reconstruction conference to be held in April. We need a change of pace, we need to work immediately”.
"Almost a year has passed since the day that turned the clock back a few decades, the invasion should have lasted a few days but it didn't happen that way because the heroic reaction of a nation willing to do anything to defend the its freedom, identity and sovereignty". And again: “Someone said that it was easy to fold Ukraine because it was not a nation. But with your ability to fight you have shown that you are an extraordinary nation” the prime minister said.
Meloni meets Zelensky in a long day of diplomacy
With her speech Giorgia Meloni wants to sweep away any doubts about the stability of the Italian position. The "unconditional" support for Ukraine has never been in question but the latest releases of Silvio Berlusconi against Zelensky and pro-Russian have certainly not helped the premier in this trip, the first in the capital of the country tormented by the war of Putin, which however comes at a very delicate moment for the fate of the conflict. With the Russian president who held the presidential speech on the state of the Federation, returning to accuse the West and further raising the tension on nuclear power. The American president Joe Biden, yesterday in visit to Kyiv, who in Poland reiterated his full support for Ukraine which "remains proud and free" and the attack on Putin: "He is the one who chose war".
News are also expected from China, with Xi Jinping ready to present his peace plan to be submitted to the two factions. It is no coincidence that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Moscow today to show the plan to the Russian executive. A move that could definitively give him the title of mediator in the Ukrainian conflict, but opposed by his great international rival, the USA, which in recent weeks has raised the level of tension with the Dragon, in the field of espionage, in Taiwan and in the area of the Indo-Pacific. Meanwhile, however, the war continues inexorably, while the first move by Moscow is awaited in what is believed to become the new major offensive.
Meloni praises Ukrainian strength, Zelensky's jab at Berlusconi
"In the eyes of the world, Ukraine has already won its battle to assert its identity". Meloni continued during the joint press conference, guaranteeing that, “apart from a few statements, the majority remains united. For me, the facts are valid and whatever the Parliament has been called to vote in support of Ukraine, the parties that are part of the majority have voted for it – the premier specified -. There is a clearly lined-up programme, it has always been respected by everyone and I trust it will still be the case”.
Even the Ukrainian president quoted the leader of Forza Italia: “Many leaders have the right to think, the real problem is the approach of the Italian company which gave that leader a mandate. I believe that Berlusconi's house has never been bombed, tanks have never arrived in his garden, no one has killed his relatives, he has never had to pack his bags at 3 in the morning to escape and all this thanks to the brotherly love of Russia. I - he continued - wish peace to all Italian families, even to those who do not support us, but ours is a great tragedy that must be understood. I want them to come here to see with their own eyes the trail of blood they left."
Meloni meets Zelensky: "For now, I'm not sending jets"
On the game of weaponry to be allocated to Kiev, Giorgia Meloni explains that "all the weapons we supply are defensive weapons". “When there is an assault, all weapons are defensive. As requested, we focused above all on the theme of anti-aircraft defense, the Sam-T, Spada, Skyguard. We have worked a lot together with France to bring our technologies together”. Meloni then added that for now the sending of fighter planes is not foreseen, "it is a decision to be made with international partners".
Meloni to Putin "The time of Covid was another time"
Meloni thus dismissed Putin's speech to the nation: “What we heard was propaganda that we already know, the facts are different. I don't know if Putin's was a warning but the time of Covid was another world. The world has changed after February 24 and it's not a choice we made." He underlined the Italian prime minister in response to the Kremlin leader who had "quoted" Italy in his speech to the Duma.
