Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, today had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mauro Vieira. The phone call, which focused on the situation in the Middle East, took place ahead of the UN Security Council meeting convened by Brazil, which currently holds the organ’s rotating presidency.
During the conversation, Tajani reiterated the importance of avoiding a regionalisation of the conflict. “Italy is working tirelessly with regional and international partners to ensure a de-escalation of the conflict and to facilitate the provision in the Gaza Strip of humanitarian aid whose interruption may only lead to a worsening of the situation”, the Deputy Prime Minister explained, welcoming the arrival of the first convoys that began last Saturday. Tajani went on to emphasise that the release of all the hostages held captive in Gaza, including Italian nationals, was a priority, “an objective towards which the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working in close cooperation with the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Italian Consulate in Jerusalem, the Embassy in Cairo, the Crisis Unit and the bodies of the Council Presidency”, said the Minister.
In conclusion, Minister Tajani informed his Brazilian counterpart of his interest in maintaining close coordination between their Countries, also in view of the respective G7 and G20 presidencies in 2024.
The conversation took place in the morning on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg, whose first item on the agenda was the situation in Israel and the region.
On that occasion, Tajani also held two meetings with the Foreign Ministers of the Netherlands and Luxembourg, to whom he reaffirmed the Italian government’s support for the “two peoples, two states” solution as the only guarantee for a future of stability and security in the Middle East.
