Italian prime minister on military aid for Ukraine: it's hypocritical to conflate peace and capitulation

When asked about the signing of the Italy-Ukraine security agreement, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed the importance of military aid for Ukraine. Source: Meloni during a press conference in Kyiv on 24 February Details: Meloni said that the bilateral security agreement between Italy and Ukraine sets out the commitments Italy has taken on alongside other Group of Seven (G7) countries during the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.

"We are continuing to support Ukraine in what I have, as you know, always considered to be people's legitimate right to defend themselves.

This necessarily includes military support, because conflating the widely used word 'peace' and 'capitulation', which seems to be happening, is a hypocritical approach that we will never take," Meloni stressed. The Italian prime minister said that the agreement will help systematise Italy's support for Ukraine. She added that countries need to take an "all-encompassing" approach to aid for Ukraine that will help it "look to its future in industry, energy, and critical infrastructure" and that will include humanitarian aid.

"Signing this document today confirms that Italy will continue to provide the necessary support for Ukraine's freedom and sovereignty, against which an aggression has been committed. [Italy] will help Ukraine build its future together," Meloni said.

Background: 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni signed a bilateral security agreement between their countries on 24 February.

  The agreement stipulates that Italy will maintain its military aid for Ukraine in 2024 and outlines defence cooperation between the two countries.

• As of today, 24 February 2024, Ukraine has entered into similar bilateral agreements with the UK, Germany, France, Denmark and Canada.

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