Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed support for the peace plan proposed by the United States to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
President Donald Trump presented the 28-point draft proposal for a peace plan to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian officials last week, according to the Associated Press. The plan included security guarantees for Ukraine, an agreement not to join NATO in the future, Ukraine’s eligibility for membership into the European Union, and territory concessions by Ukraine and Russia, among other details.
While speaking at a press conference during the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Meloni rejected the idea of needing a counterproposal to the U.S. deal, emphasizing the plan had “many points that were acceptable.” She suggested using the plan as a foundation for a peace agreement, rather than scrapping it and drafting a counterproposal.
“I don’t think the issue is working on a complete counterproposal. There are many points that are acceptable in the plan we’re reading,” said Meloni. “It makes more sense to work on the existing proposal and focus on the truly crucial issues.”
However, the Italian prime minister stopped short of a complete endorsement of the U.S. plan, stating that while it was a good start, there were some aspects of the proposal that required further discussion.
“There are some points in the American plan that certainly need to be discussed: the question of territories, the question of reconstruction funding, the question of the Ukrainian army,” Meloni said. “There are also many points that I consider particularly positive, especially regarding security guarantees.”
Meloni also stressed that the plan would need more input from European countries and that such contributions were necessary for the proposal “to be implemented.” She also said categorized discussions about the peace plan as at a “very delicate stage” and a “test of maturity for Europe.”
“A part of this plan needs Europe in order to be implemented, and this concerns the issue of security guarantees, the issue of reconstruction, the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union,” said Meloni.
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Meloni spoke to Trump about the peace proposal. She revealed that she sought clarification “to understand if we can obtain at least a temporary ceasefire on the strategic infrastructure” while working on the details of the proposal. She emphasized that Russia must provide legitimate proof that it is indeed interested in ending the war.
“The Russians also need to give some concrete signal that they actually want to achieve peace,” Meloni said.
