Merz and Maloney said that European leaders are far from negotiations on the deployment of troops in Ukraine
Europe is still far from talking about the deployment of its troops in Ukraine, as all efforts are currently focused on securing an unconditional ceasefire from Russia. This was stated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni during their meeting in Rome. informsReuters agency.
“It is premature to talk now about the participation of the troops. We are still very far from that. The main thing now is a ceasefire, a stop to the killings… These are our primary tasks. The next step should be a clear definition of the format of the peace talks, as well as what security guarantees Ukraine may one day need.” – said Mertz.
At the same time, he admitted that it is currently impossible to clearly predict the development of these processes.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who received Mertz at the Chigi Palace, confirmed Rome’s readiness to join any international peace initiative. At the same time, she warned against divisions among Western countries against the background of difficult diplomatic negotiations:
“The unity of the West has been our strength from the very beginning. And now it is extremely important not to lose it because of personal political ambitions.”
It will be recalled that the day before, on May 16, within the framework of the summit in Albania, the leaders of France, Germany, Great Britain and Poland met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. During the summit, a telephone conversation was also held with US President Donald Trump, who announced his intention to discuss the situation in Ukraine personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
In this context, Meloni did not rule out Italy’s participation in the international peace process, but emphasized that any steps should be balanced and coordinated within the Western coalition.
Chancellor Mertz also commented on the results of recent contacts between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Turkey. According to him, the negotiations that took place in Istanbul did not bring the expected results, although they proved the readiness of the parties for further contacts: “Yesterday’s negotiations in Istanbul did not live up to our expectations, despite the extremely constructive position of the Ukrainian delegation,” he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously expressed a cautious willingness to consider participating in a potential peacekeeping mission, but only under the condition of clear security guarantees from the United States. Instead, the Kremlin has repeatedly stated that it is categorically against the presence of any military units of NATO countries on the territory of Ukraine.
At the same time, the European Union is preparing a new sanctions package against Russia — it should be a response to continued aggression and attempts to undermine European unity.
