(Adnkronos) – United States president Donald Trump’s phone calls this week with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky as part of efforts towards a ceasefire are “positive signs”, Italy believes.
“It seems to me that the (two-hour) Trump-Putin phone call (on Tuesday) s a positive sign as is the one (on Wednesday) between Trump and Zelensky,” Tajani told public broadcaster Raiuno’s 5 Minutes programme late Wednesday.
“We called for Ukraine to be involved and this happened. We encourage all initiatives that lead to peace. It is not easy but there is some hope,” Tajani said.
Italy will continue to back Ukraine – against which Russia launched a full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 – Tajani underlined.
“But we have never been at war with Russia and have never authorised Ukraine to use our weapons on Russian soil,” Tajani recalled.
During his phone conversation with Trump, Zelensky said he was open to a partial ceasefire with Russia involving a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, rail and port facilities that could be established quickly. But Zelensky warned his country would retaliate if Moscow violated the terms of the ceasefire.
Trump said his phone call with Zelensky was aimed at aligning Ukraine and Russia “in terms of their requests and needs”, adding that ceasefire efforts were on track.
In his phone talks with Trump on Tuesday, Putin agreed to a 30-day halt on energy facility strikes, but did not back a full 30-day ceasefire which Trump hoped would be the first stop towards a permanent peace accord.
