Meloni: Surrendering to Ukraine cannot bring true peace

I was kind of hoping that[Putin]would say something else, that there would be some progress. But it was propaganda

– Meloni stated during his visit to the settlement of Irbin near Kiev.

Meloni arrived in the Ukrainian capital from Poland by train. He visited the settlements of Bucha and Irpini near Kiev, where Ukrainian civilians were murdered last spring. The Italian Prime Minister was paraded around a local church in Buxa, where photographs of the civilian victims killed in the town were displayed. In Irpini, Meloni distributed aid to the local population.

During the day, the Italian Prime Minister also held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky. After discussion, Meloni states that

The transfer of Italian military aircraft to Ukraine is “not on the table”, while Rome is considering sending additional air defense systems in addition to the upgraded Franco-Italian SAMP / T-MAMBA missiles.

At the same time, Meloni stressed that Ukraine’s surrender cannot bring true peace. As he said, the defeat of Kiev may lead to attacks on other European countries, and promised Ukraine more support. He added: Italy intends to hold an international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine next April.

Cover photo: Valeria Mongeli/Bloomberg via Getty Images