This evening, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, held a telephone conversation with the Foreign Ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Finland, Poland, Ukraine and the EU High Representative.
The call took place in the wake of Ukraine’s Independence Day and the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting convened on that occasion. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, briefed his counterparts on the follow-up to the leaders’ meeting held in Washington on 18 August and on prospects for peace in Ukraine.
Minister Tajani expressed his appreciation for the Secretary of State’s initiative, underlining the importance of close coordination between the United States and Europe on the Ukrainian dossier and European security. These issues had also been raised earlier in the day during his audience with the Holy Father, on which the Deputy Prime Minister updated his colleagues.
Reaffirming the centrality of the transatlantic relationship, the Minister reiterated Italy’s willingness to contribute to effective negotiations and stressed the importance of ensuring robust and credible security guarantees for Ukraine, including the strengthening of its Armed Forces and defence industry.
In this context, Tajani recalled Italy’s proposal for a collective security mechanism modelled on Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. He also confirmed Italy’s readiness to take part in land and maritime demining operations.
On the humanitarian front, the Minister highlighted the importance of ensuring the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russia, an issue on which Italy is also engaged in cooperation with the Holy See through the dedicated international coalition.
Together with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, Tajani also underlined the importance of the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon and of working towards a shared approach on the mission’s future, ahead of the forthcoming vote on the renewal of its mandate at the UN Security Council.
On this point, the Secretary of State agreed on the importance of continuing, in coordination with the United Nations, to identify the most effective instruments to strengthen Lebanon’s stability and security—an objective of crucial importance for the wider Middle East.
