The Italian prime minister made the comments after holding talks with the UK’s prime minister in London ahead of the summit on European defence and Ukraine.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said Italy and the UK can “build bridges” between Europe and the United States in a bid to repair a rift made worse by a recent fiery meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I think it is very, very important that we avoid the risk of the West splitting. And I think that in this the UK and Italy can play an important role,” Meloni said, emphasising the importance of unity in the West.
“I have proposed a meeting between the US and European leaders because if we divide we will all be weaker. We both think outside the box and I am certain that we can do even better in issues such as security, defence, energy and the fight against irregular immigration and human traffickers,” Meloni added.
The Italian Prime Minister was speaking in London where she will attend a summit on European defence and the war in Ukraine convened by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
But Meloni is one of just three European leaders not to have shown their support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he was publicly berated by Trump and his Vice President, JD Vance.
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico are the other two and they have gone further by both siding with Russia.
Meloni had a telephone conversation with Trump on Saturday evening, demonstrating the strong ties between the two leaders and her desire to salvage the transatlantic relationship.
Starmer: ‘Very similar approach to Meloni’
Starmer, who along with France on Sunday morning announced a plan for peace in Ukraine, reiterated how close the UK is to Italy.
“We have a very similar approach on the important issues facing the world right now,” he said.
Before leaving for the summit, Polish Prime Minister and EU rotating president Donald Tusk greeted the meeting between Meloni and Starmer.
“A summit between the EU and the US today seems very necessary indeed and it is good that it was proposed by Meloni to President Trump, because of their very good relations. Maybe it will have a positive effect,” Tusk said.
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