Summary
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for an “immediate” summit between the US, EU, and Western allies to discuss Ukraine following a heated White House meeting between Trump and President Zelenskyy.
The February 28 meeting ended without agreement on a minerals deal after escalating into a confrontation over US aid and peace deal conditions.
Meloni warned that Western division “makes us all weaker” as European leaders reaffirmed support for Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas commented that “the free world needs a new leader,” while European allies worry about being excluded from US-Russia negotiations to end the war.
I am not Italian, rather swedish, but what I have seen from Meloni in reality is that she has taken a very firm stance against Putin and his war on Ukraine and has given huge amounts of military equipment (scroll down to Italy to see what military equipment they have given) and and money to Ukraine. Meloni has never stood in the way of political decisions to support Ukraine or sanctions against Russia to my knowledge, rather has been at the forefront of implementing them and has continuously condemned Putin and Russia’s agression. Exactly in what way is Meloni a puppet of Putin?
We give a lot because we produce a lot. Italy’s arms export grew 86% between 2019 and 2024.
And while we are too weak to be openly against our major trade partner, Germany, she is also balancing her act with our second trade partner, the USA and trying to explain her electorate that she is still the one they voted for who called Orbán an exemplary leader, all while Salvini, another prominent member of her government, screamed for a Peace Prize to Trump as soon as he appeared to give in to Putin.
Right now Starmer and Meloni are what is dragging everyone else’s feet on a United EU Defense plan and an EU-led diplomatic move towards Russia.
In the 100 years old tradition of fascist parties in Italy, she is also subject to the whims of much more powerful actors internally and externally.