Italy backs Turkey’s mediation efforts in Ukraine

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said yesterday that Italy fully supports Turkey’s mediation efforts to end the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, Anadolu has reported.

“Turkey is not only a NATO ally,” Maio told journalists after an EU Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Brussels, “but it is also an important country for the dialogue to bring the parties to a peace agreement at this stage.” He added that had met his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu and discussed how the negotiations were going.

The fact that US President Joe Biden is due to attend this week’s NATO leaders’ summit and EU leaders’ summit, explained the Italian official, is an important sign that the two blocs are united on the Ukraine issue.

Establishing a general ceasefire in Ukraine is difficult, said Maio, so his country has asked the EU to take the initiative on a regional ceasefire for the evacuation of civilians and the delivery of essential supplies to besieged areas. Italy is also fully open to a fifth package of sanctions against Russia and is waiting for a proposal from the EU Commission on this matter.

According to UN estimates, at least 925 civilians have been killed, with nearly 1,500 others injured in Ukraine since Russia began its attack on its neighbour on 24 February. The hostilities have also driven 10 million people from their homes either internally or as refugees abroad.

READ: Turkiye FM says Russia, Ukraine ‘close to agreement’