Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has doubts about deploying European troops to Ukraine, a government source said Tuesday, after she joined other European leaders for emergency talks in Paris.
She told Monday’s meeting that sending troops was “the most complex and the least effective” way of securing peace in Ukraine, according to media reports confirmed by the source to AFP.
Meloni also emphasised the importance of involving the United States in any discussions on Ukraine and European security, saying the meeting should not be an “anti-Trump” initiative.
French President Emmanuel Macron convened an emergency meeting with the leaders of Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, the EU and NATO on Monday to address Washington’s policy shift on Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week when he called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to talk about starting negotiations to end the conflict.
Meloni — a nationalist whose allies have painted her as potential bridge between the EU and Washington — had reportedly been unsure whether to attend, preferring a formal EU discussion.
The leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party attended the talks in the end but left without making any public comment.
She has not spoken to reporters for almost three weeks, avoiding commenting on most of Trump’s announcements.
Despite its history of ties with Russia, Italy has strongly backed Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion, sending weapons and aid to help Kyiv defend itself.
Add Comment