(Adnkronos) – Incoming United States president Donald Trump is crucial to negotiations towards a just peace ending Russia’s 34-month-old invasion of Ukraine, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani told Il Messaggero daily in an interview published on Friday.
“Without America, Europe cannot do anything useful for a truce in Ukraine,” Tajani said in the interview held on the sidelines of a European leaders’ summit in Brussels on Thursday.
At the European Council summit, EU leaders sent a clear signal to Trump on their unwavering support for Ukraine, underling that any peace deal must involve Ukraine and respect the integrity of its territory. A fifth of Ukraine is currently occupied by Russian forces, who are steadily advancing in the former Soviet republic’s east.
“Putin talks about compromise. That’s fine, but words are not enough. Actions must follow,” said Tajani.
Finding a European framework to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to and end “is not easy” and working together with Trump’s administration will be essential, Tajani argued.
Addressing EU leaders at Thursday’s summit, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenksy urged European countries to guarantee his country’s protect after the war with Russia, but underlined that support from the US under Trump as vital.
Italy must be “a bridge” with the US, said Tajani, highlighting that “the good relations” between premier Giorgia Meloni and Trump “help”.
“There is a feeling of a turning point and pressure from both sides to reach a negotiated settlement. But first Russia must stop waging war,” Tajani underlined.
In the Middle East, the ousting of Syria’s long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad earlier this month by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was “a hard blow” for Putin, Tajani said.
“Russia cannot do two wars at the same time. I believe that even the Russians have realized that they cannot go on,” he said.
Trump, who takes office in January, has repeatedly called for a rapid end to conflict in Ukraine. On Monday, Trump said Zelensky should be prepared cut a peace deal with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Trump did not state if a peace accord between Ukraine and Russia would mean Kiev ceding territory to Moscow as part of a negotiated settlement, but he is “a very pragmatic leader”, Tajani claimed.
“He is a very pragmatic leader, he will not want to give in to Putin. He’s going to head the peace process. We have to work on it too. Together with America,” Tajani concluded.
