(Adnkronos) – The United States-Israel war against Iran, the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping conduit’s closure and efforts to to ensure freedom of navigation, the three-week old ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s pro-Iranian group Hezbollahand its disarmament were at the centre of talks taking place in Rome between Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani and his United States counterpart Marco Rubio on Friday, according to a foreign ministry statement.
The future of crisis-hit Lebanon after the United Nations’ UNIFIL peacekeeping mission, which is due to end this year, the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the political transitions in Venezuela and Cuba are also on the meeting agenda, the statement said.
A further focus of the talks will be relations between the European Union and the US, including the issue of critical minerals, the statement added.
After his meeting with Tajani, Rubio was due to hold talks with premier Giorgia Meloni, whose warm relations with US president Donald Trump have come under recent strain over Trump’s verbal attacks on Pope Leo, his criticism of Meloni for Italy’s lack of support in the war against Iran and his threats to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany.
