“Italy will not let the Ukrainian people down,” said Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting in Kyiv. Seeking out a diplomatic solution is crucial “to restore peace and defend democracy,” he added.
- The Italian official visited Ukraine on Thursday, the day after the country celebrated its Independence Day. He also went to Irpin, a city devastated by Russian aggression and a living symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
- He also met with his counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and Interior Minister Denis Monastirsky, co-chairman of the Ukrainian-Italian Committee for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation.
Unflinchingly pro-Kyiv. Minister Di Maio reiterated Italy’s strong support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence and freedom, as well as its “convinced support” for its European path and future reconstruction.
- He also recalled the assistance provided by Italy since the beginning of the conflict and remarked on how Italy welcomed Ukrainian refugees.
Italy called Ukraine. To mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, PM Mario Draghi sent a video message to President Zelensky. “Our government has provided and will continue to provide you with political, financial, military and humanitarian support. We want to help you to defend yourselves, to achieve lasting peace, under the terms you deem acceptable.”
- Italian President Sergio Mattarella also chimed in, expressing Italy’s “solidarity, closeness and support to Ukraine, which is engaged in facing the brutal and unjustified aggression by the Russian Federation, against which it legitimately resists.”
- He also promised to aid with humanitarian assistance and reconstruction efforts, too, and vowed that Itay would stand at Ukraine’s side as it strives towards “full integration into the European family.”
Passing on the torch. As Decode39 explained, The two leaders’ messaging definitely sounds like an appeal addressed to Italy’s next government – a call to remain steadily on the Euro-Atlantic tracks that they laid out. Minister Di Maio’s visit to Kyiv moves in this very direction.
