Italy to boycott UK-France-led meeting on Ukraine – media

PM Giorgia Meloni reportedly believes that London and Paris are “rushing ahead” to promote deploying troops to the country

13 MAR 2024 CET RT: FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during her visit to Denmark. © Getty Images / Massimo Di Vita

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will no take part in an upcoming video conference proposed by UK and France, in which a so-called “coalition of the willing” intends to increase military support for Ukraine, La Repubblica and La Stampa newspapers have reported.

In its article on Tuesday, La Repubblica said that “it is certain” that Meloni will boycott the virtual meeting of the Western European leaders being convened by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday.

The Italian PM reportedly “distances herself from the Franco-British axis” due to her disagreement with the push by London and Paris to send peacekeepers to aid Kiev. Meloni believes that Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are “rushing ahead” with their idea, according to La Repubblica.

The move by Rome could “split the front that Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are trying to build,” La Stampa noted.

The media outlet claimed that the Italian authorities had decided to drop out of the video conference after extensive discussions with other governments, including the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Starmer announced that the UK and France are ready to lead a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine with troops and aircraft during an emergency summit in London in early March. This came shortly after Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky had a public disagreement at the White House, where Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of opposing peace with Russia and being ungrateful for US assistance.

Shortly after the summit, Meloni stressed that “Italy will not be sending troops to Ukraine.” She suggested that European politicians should instead focus on developing conditions for a just and lasting peace between Moscow and Kiev, including security guarantees for Ukraine.

Earlier this week, the Italian PM expressed “satisfaction” with the outcome of the talks between the US and Ukraine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which ended with Kiev agreeing to an “immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire.” She said that Rome “fully supports” Trump’s peace efforts and that “the decision is now up to Russia.”

Moscow has said repeatedly that it would not accept a temporary ceasefire with Kiev, insisting that the conflict must be settled through reliable, legally binding agreements that would eliminate its root causes. Russia has also categorically ruled out the possibility of Western European peacekeepers arriving in Ukraine.