Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is skeptical of the initiatives of Paris and Berlin regarding Ukraine, La Repubblica newspaper reported citing a government source. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky are planning to meet in London on June 7 to discuss possible negotiations with Russia. According to the newspaper, Italian authorities believe that without US participation, no agreement can be reached.
Furthermore, Rome is cautious about sending troops to Ukraine as part of a "Western coalition" and does not consider Kyiv's rapid accession to the European Union a priority. "According to the government, the coalition supporting Ukraine has not yet achieved concrete results. Talk of sending troops has been going on for more than three years," the publication quoted the source as saying.
On Thursday, Zelensky published a letter on his official website proposing a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the territory of a third country. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the written version of Zelensky's "open letter" had been handed over to Putin and the Russian president had familiarized himself with it.
On Thursday, at a meeting with heads of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Russian president noted that Russia intends to end the conflict in Ukraine, but Kyiv is not yet ready for peace talks.