Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met last night in Rome with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

At the end of the meeting, the head of the Italian government stated that “the responsibility of the international community is to help the resistance and hope of the Ukrainian people.”

“Our support is aimed at putting Ukraine in the best possible position for a peace negotiation to take place, but that cannot mean surrender, as many, too many, are cowardly advising,” Meloni added.

In relation to the support of Kiev and the prospects for peace, the Italian Prime Minister emphasized: “Our discussion focused on air defense and now we are discussing how we can support the Ukrainian defense industry and strengthen the European defense industry. President Zelensky and I agreed that it is important to involve, as much as possible, international actors who can convince Moscow to sit at the negotiating table in a credible way. But at the same time, we must react in a clear way, with direct and indirect support for the countering of the Russian military attack.”

Regarding reconstruction, Meloni announced that the next Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine will be held in Rome on July 10-11, 2025.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the end of the meeting held in Rome’s Villa Pamphili, emphasized: “We are working to reach peace as quickly as possible. I want to thank Georgia Meloni for the conference that will be organized in Italy. I highly appreciate the exchange of views we had today, we also talked about the preparation of a new support package in the defense sector. I thank the Italian Prime Minister for the constant and sincere support she provides us. Our defense systems help save lives. We appreciate what Italy is doing, both at the level of the European Union and the G7”.