Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, will be on a mission to London on 20 and 21 June to take part in the Ukraine Recovery Conference, as convened by the United Kingdom to mobilise public and private sector instruments and funding, in the wake of the Lugano, Paris, Berlin and Rome Conferences.
“We want to play a key role in the process of rebuilding Ukraine”, said the Italian Deputy Prime Minister, “which is affected by an unjustified war of aggression. The London Conference is in continuity with the bilateral conference held in Rome on 26 April. Two stages of a process that will be long and articulated”, Tajani added, “in which Italy has a central role, including with the G7 Presidency in 2024 and, subsequently, by hosting the Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2025.”
On the sidelines of the conference, Tajani will attend a meeting of G7 Ministers, convened by the Japanese Presidency, and will have a number of bilateral meetings, including one with EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso and one with British Secretary of State James Cleverly.
The Deputy Prime Minister will also meet with leading Italian financial and cultural figures resident in the UK, as part of the diplomacy for growth promoted by the Government, and will visit the Consulate General of Italy in London, which serves one of the largest communities of Italian nationals in the world and the largest in Europe.
The London Conference will assess progress in financing the World Bank’s estimated $14 billion reconstruction needs for the country. It will be opened by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (in virtual mode) and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. International Financial Institutions and over 400 companies from around the world will also be present.
