{"id":143595,"date":"2025-08-15T08:44:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T06:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/sala_stampa\/archivionotizie\/\/2025\/08\/tajani-putin-apra-al-dialogo-tutto-cio-che-riguarda-lucraina-dovra-essere-deciso-con-lucraina-quotidiano-nazionale\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T13:39:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:39:36","slug":"tajani-putin-apra-al-dialogo-tutto-cio-che-riguarda-lucraina-dovra-essere-deciso-con-lucraina-quotidiano-nazionale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/sala_stampa\/archivionotizie\/interviste\/2025\/08\/tajani-putin-apra-al-dialogo-tutto-cio-che-riguarda-lucraina-dovra-essere-deciso-con-lucraina-quotidiano-nazionale\/","title":{"rendered":"Tajani: \u201cPutin must open to dialogue. Everything concerning Ukraine must be decided with Ukraine\u201d (Quotidiano Nazionale)"},"content":{"rendered":"

What can we hope for, what can we expect from the Anchorage summit in Alaska?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can hope that it marks a turning point, and that following this meeting, a genuine negotiation between Russia and Ukraine \u2014 between Putin and Zelensky \u2014 can begin. That is what we must hope for. We\u2019ll need to see whether such a result could actually stem from this first encounter \u2014 which is something else entirely.\u201d Italy\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani is direct and to the point on the eve of the mid-August summit.<\/p>\n

What does the outcome depend on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOn Putin. I don\u2019t know how willing he\u2019ll be to listen to Trump\u2019s requests or how interested he is in reaching a ceasefire to end the war quickly. The key issue, therefore, isn\u2019t so much what Trump asks, but what Putin is prepared to accept. The ball\u2019s in his court. It\u2019s up to him to say whether he wants dialogue, whether he\u2019s open to a meeting with Zelensky or not. That\u2019s the crux of the matter \u2014 and we\u2019ll understand Putin\u2019s real intentions about ending the war from how he responds to Trump. It seems to me, though, that right now Russia is trying to grab as much territory as it can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think Putin might refuse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an easy situation for him. He\u2019s got an army of one and a half million people who earn three times more than an average Russian worker. The entire Russian economy has essentially been converted to defence \u2014 which means it\u2019ll be very hard to return to a peacetime economy. Putin also faces serious domestic issues \u2014 including the need to show strength. It won\u2019t be easy, but ideally this summit would lead to the scheduling of a future three-way meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

At present, Europe and Zelensky seem to be watching from the sidelines, but at least the Euro-Atlantic summit saw Trump willing not to go it alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have to say that even back in the winter, at the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Europe needed to be involved. It seems everyone came away from the recent meeting satisfied \u2014 it showed the West was united. Trump\u2019s words, in this context, definitely sent a positive signal to both Europe and Zelensky. It certainly strengthens Ukraine\u2019s position, gives it more backing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What role should Ukraine play in the negotiations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single decision concerning Ukraine must be made with Ukraine and the other parties involved. No one else can decide this country\u2019s fate. A peace agreement cannot be imposed on Ukraine \u2014 let\u2019s not forget that Ukraine is the victim of an act of aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been widespread discussion of territorial concessions \u2014 a hugely complex issue.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce there\u2019s a ceasefire, direct negotiations should begin \u2014 as I mentioned \u2014 between Zelensky and Putin. At that stage, it will be up to Ukraine to decide the fate of its territories: no one else has the right to decide on any part of Ukraine\u2019s land.\u201d<\/p>\n

What kind of guarantees should Kyiv receive regarding its security?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be guarantees for its independence and its security. We\u2019ll see who provides those guarantees and how \u2014 whether it\u2019s the United States or others. One thing is certain: Ukraine\u2019s security is also Europe\u2019s security, especially now that Ukraine is a candidate for EU membership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who should ensure compliance with the ceasefire, if one is reached?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRight from the start, we\u2019ve put forward a very clear proposal: there should be a presence authorised by the UN Security Council, ideally with agreement from both Russia and China. Without the Russians\u2019 consent, such a mission would be ineffective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s turn to the other major war front: the Middle East. The other night you welcomed children arriving in Italy as part of a new humanitarian mission.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it was the largest operation of its kind to date \u2014 three military aircraft evacuated many children from Gaza. We are, along with Egypt, T\u00fcrkiye, Qatar and the Emirates, one of the countries that has taken in the highest number of refugees from Gaza. I\u2019d like to add something: I\u2019ve seen numerous calls for journalists to be allowed into Gaza \u2014 and I believe the time has come. Journalists must be allowed in to report independently on the dire situation in the Strip. That\u2019s not something Israel can simply ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a political-diplomatic perspective, has Italy\u2019s stance on Netanyahu\u2019s plan to occupy Gaza now been fully defined?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re absolutely against it. We\u2019ve said so clearly and signed a document with several other countries to that effect. We also oppose any new acts of aggression or annexation by Israel in the West Bank. All of this undermines the two-state solution \u2014 which, for us, remains the only viable path to peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Italy has condemned Netanyahu\u2019s massacres in Gaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made it clear that the line of proportional response to the 7 October 2023 attack was crossed a long time ago. What we\u2019re witnessing now is a bloodbath \u2014 the signs are unmistakable. And because we are friends of Israel, we are saying that what they\u2019re doing is extremely serious \u2014 including the attacks on Christians, which only serve to benefit Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the opposition continues to accuse your government of failing to recognise the Palestinian State.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in favour of recognising Palestine, but first the Palestinian State has to be built \u2014 and right now, it doesn\u2019t exist. That\u2019s why we\u2019re working to help establish it. This is also why we support a UN-led mission, under Arab leadership, to reunify Palestine. In that context, we would even be ready to send Italian troops. On the 1st of September, in fact, the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs will visit Rome. I\u2019ll also add that Tony Blinken, Biden\u2019s Democratic Secretary of State, said just three days ago that recognising Palestine as things stand now would have no practical effect \u2014 because Israel would carry on regardless.\u201d<\/p>\n

One final point: with Salvini on one side and Crosetto on the other, it seems like quite a few people in government want to be involved in foreign policy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s perfectly legitimate for them to want to express views on foreign affairs. But foreign policy is the responsibility of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. That\u2019s the official line \u2014 and I don\u2019t believe there\u2019s ever been a deviation from it. Public statements are another matter entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What can we hope for, what can we expect from the Anchorage summit in Alaska? \u201cWe can hope that it marks a turning point, and that following this meeting, a genuine negotiation between Russia and Ukraine \u2014 between Putin and Zelensky \u2014 can begin. That is what we must hope for. We\u2019ll need to see […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[6,28,360],"class_list":["post-143595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviste","tag-mediterraneo-e-medio-oriente","tag-ministro","tag-ucraina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143595","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143598,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143595\/revisions\/143598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}