Meloni presses Europe to speak with one voice on Ukraine

ROME-- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for a common European position in Ukraine peace talks, warning that separate diplomatic efforts risk leaving the EU irrelevant, the Rome daily Il Messaggero reported.

  In a letter sent to European Council President Antonio Costa on Thursday, Meloni criticized the lack of coordination between member states.

  Her letter cited meetings in Miami and Oslo and a separate telephone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin by the leaders of Finland and Norway, such initiatives were making European governments less credible, she argued.

  “I am not asking for a place for Italy in this or that format,” she wrote, adding that she was not seeking the negotiating role for herself.

  EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas backed Meloni’s appeal, saying European governments needed to coordinate their diplomacy, Il Messaggero reported.

  Democratic Party Senator Alessandro Alfieri had called on Tuesday. For France, Germany and Britain’s E3 group to be expanded to Include Italy and Poland. In a statement he said the government could not remain on the margins of European diplomacy.

  Defense minister Guido Crosetto told the Senate on Thursday, that Italy’s thirteenth military aid package had been prepared 

  He also said he would propose extending the mechanism used to authorize military aid, arguing that Ukraine’s ability to resist strengthened the prospects for peace.

  Meloni asked Costa to put European representation on the agenda for next week’s Dublin summit on Nov.13.

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