Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she supports the extension of Article 5 of the NATO collective defence treaty to Ukraine.
According to the politician, in her speech published on her X page, peace in Ukraine is a central issue and it requires clear security guarantees. Meloni reiterated her previous statement that these guarantees should always be based on NATO.
The prime minister called sending peacekeeping troops from EU or British forces "the most difficult and least effective solution". Meloni has strongly denied the possibility of Italian armed forces taking part.
Instead, she suggested considering extending to Ukraine the "security umbrella that NATO countries have", which is not tantamount to joining the Alliance. According to Meloni, this idea is being promoted by Italy on international platforms, and despite the lack of specific deadlines, there is "considerable interest from our interlocutors".
- The final communiqué of the EU summit in Brussels supporting Ukraine was signed by 26 countries of the bloc, with Hungary opposed.