(Adnkronos) – Italy is ready play a leading role in Europe’s security including Ukraine’s and wants to see a “fair and just” peace in the war-wracked country that will allow it to rebuild, according to foreign minister Antonio Tajani.
“Cohesion and coordination between our diplomacies remains an essential element,” Tajani wrote on X late Tuesday after phone talks between Quintet members Italy, the US, UK, France and Germany,
The Quintet phone talks followed US-Russia talks in Riyadh earlier Tuesday on how to end the three-year-old Ukraine war.
“I reiterated (in the Quintet talks) that for Italy the aim is to achieve a fair and just peace, which allows the reconstruction of Ukraine and guarantees its future. We are ready to commit ourselves so that Europe plays a leading role in the security of the continent,” Tajani wrote.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio had been “very clear” that Europe will be involved in negotiations to end the devastating Russia-Ukraine war, Tajani said on Tuesday after the Quintet talks, cited by a foreign ministry statement.
“This is for a very clear reason: we have imposed sanctions on Russia which are in place and there can be no negotiations if sanctions and countries which imposed them are not sitting at the table,” Tajani said.
Tajani said he welcomed Rubio’s assurance to the Quintet that close coordination between the US and Europe on Ukraine and Europe’s security are “important”, according to the statement.
Other Quintet members agreed with Tajani, also on the need to achieve “a just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, the statement said.
