In statements published on the Corriere della Sera newspaper’s website this Monday, Tajani asserted that French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the main promoters of this initiative, “is not crazy”, as Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini recently said, but “he has his positions, which are not ours.”

“We hope that what Macron envisages is not necessary,” said the foreign minister, who emphasized that “our soldiers will not go on a NATO or European mission in Ukraine.” “Another thing would be a United Nations mission, which could act as a peacekeeping force after peace has been achieved”, the minister added.

On March 6, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also made clear in the framework of the informal meeting of the European Council (EC) held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, her country’s opposition to sending European troops to Ukraine, as proposed by the governments of France, the United Kingdom, and other nations in the region.

This issue will be discussed again at an ordinary summit of the EC, the institution that defines the general political guidelines and priorities of the regional community, to be held in the Belgian capital on March 20 and 21.

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