{"id":136476,"date":"2025-05-14T08:59:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T06:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/sala_stampa\/archivionotizie\/\/2025\/05\/tajani-mi-fido-poco-di-vladimir-le-pen-disgrega-lunione\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T12:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T10:04:02","slug":"tajani-mi-fido-poco-di-vladimir-le-pen-disgrega-lunione","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/sala_stampa\/archivionotizie\/approfondimenti\/2025\/05\/tajani-mi-fido-poco-di-vladimir-le-pen-disgrega-lunione\/","title":{"rendered":"Tajani: \u201cI don\u2019t trust Vladimir. Le Pen is tearing the Union apart\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

He sighs, rolls his eyes skyward. He hesitates for a moment, then comes the blow: \u201cI don\u2019t trust Putin\u201d. On the eve of the Istanbul summit that could shift the course of the war in Ukraine, Antonio Tajani takes a step back, dampening any premature optimism. Perhaps the ceasefire in Ukraine\u2019s trenches is not as imminent as it seems. Perhaps more time is needed to compel Russia to sit at the negotiating table\u2014despite the momentum injected by US President Donald Trump, who has reopened dialogue with Volodymyr Zelensky. \u201cI don\u2019t trust Putin,\u201d confides the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister to Il Messaggero<\/em> as he exits the Forza Italia headquarters in Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina, under a torrential downpour.<\/p>\n

FROST OVER UKRAINE<\/p>\n

It is the most sensitive issue on the government’s agenda. It was at the heart of a working lunch on Friday convened by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with her two deputies, Tajani and Matteo Salvini. \u201cI met Deputy Prime Minister Kuleba in Verona; we discussed Ukraine\u2019s reconstruction ahead of the conference to be held in Italy in July,\u201d continues the Minister of Foreign Affairs as he leaves the Forza Italia base. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard to trust any overtures from Putin at this stage\u201d. These are hectic days\u2014potentially decisive ones\u2014for the future of the bloodiest land war in Europe since World War. At Palazzo Chigi, the government is grappling with its next moves.<\/p>\n

Meloni has opted not to attend the summit of the “Willing” in Kyiv this Saturday in person, appearing only via video link. A choice she communicated over lunch to the centre-right leadership at the weekend, justified by her deep scepticism\u2014if not outright irritation\u2014towards President Macron\u2019s hyperactivity and apparent pursuit of photo opportunities at any cost. Still, her absence has sparked noise and domestic controversy. \u201cWhy wasn\u2019t Meloni in Kyiv? Ask her,\u201d Tajani said sharply last night. The subtext is clear: he would have gone. The opposition is expected to press this point today during premier time in Parliament\u2014a session carefully prepared by the Prime Minister\u2019s team.\u00a0Tajani remains sceptical about an imminent resolution to the Ukraine crisis. Putin cannot be trusted. And if Europe is divided on how to proceed, it is also\u2014Tajani hints\u2014because of Moscow\u2019s fifth columns. \u201cWe will oppose any attempt to break up Europe, as Ms Le Pen is trying to do,\u201d the Minister declares as he climbs into his official car. These are harsh words for \u201cMadame Marine\u201d, who was just hosted in Rome with full honours by Salvini, as the headline guest at the League\u2019s political academy. Later in the evening, speaking from the De Gasperi Foundation, Tajani launches another broadside at the sovereigntists: \u201cAnyone who seeks to dismantle and destroy Europe is making a disastrous choice\u201d. And again: \u201cI would never be part of an anti-EU government\u201d. These are not mere distinctions among allies, but clear fault lines, liable to widen as the government faces major international crises. Meloni is aware of this. Which is why on Friday, she called for unity and discretion from her deputies on the Ukrainian front. Perhaps it\u2019s no coincidence that Salvini\u2014usually extremely vocal\u2014has been uncharacteristically silent in front of the cameras in recent days.<\/p>\n

The other unresolved issue is called Gaza. Meloni has yet to comment publicly on the occupation plan announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has provoked outcry from the international community.<\/p>\n

THE GAZA ISSUE<\/p>\n

\u201cOur position is clear: on Gaza, we stand with Pope Leo XIV, who has called for an immediate ceasefire, and with Egypt\u2019s reconstruction plan,\u201d says Tajani. Translation: Netanyahu\u2019s invasion plan does not reflect Italy\u2019s position. For months, contact between the Israeli leader and Meloni has been sporadic; their last phone call dates back to the days before Christmas. And relations have cooled further in recent weeks, especially after Tel Aviv halted humanitarian aid to Gaza, effectively blocking Italy\u2019s \u201cFood for Gaza\u201d operation. \u201cWe are aligned with the World Food Programme,\u201d the Minister of Foreign Affairs clarifies. \u201cI\u2019ve spoken with my Israeli counterpart, Sa\u2019ar, and the Palestinian Prime Minister Mustafa, who refuses US aid. It\u2019s a complex situation\u2026\u201d. The car speeds off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He sighs, rolls his eyes skyward. He hesitates for a moment, then comes the blow: \u201cI don\u2019t trust Putin\u201d. On the eve of the Istanbul summit that could shift the course of the war in Ukraine, Antonio Tajani takes a step back, dampening any premature optimism. Perhaps the ceasefire in Ukraine\u2019s trenches is not as […]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6,28,360],"class_list":["post-136476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-approfondimenti","tag-mediterraneo-e-medio-oriente","tag-ministro","tag-ucraina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136476"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136477,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136476\/revisions\/136477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}