Italy calls for ‘serious’ Ukraine peace talks

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has called for an international effort dedicated to resolving the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking to Corriere della Sera newspaper on Monday, the minister stated that he hopes “a serious peace conference can be held before the end of the year.”

The last international summit dedicated to resolving the Ukraine crisis was held this summer in Switzerland. Russia, however, was not invited to participate, and the much-hyped event failed to deliver any concrete results, with many nations in attendance refusing to support the summit’s joint declaration.

“I believe that we must work to find a peace table, a conference like the one held in Switzerland months ago with the participation of Russia and China. Obviously, Russia cannot arrive with the request for the total surrender of Ukraine. Peace is something else, it must be a just peace that guarantees the independence of Ukraine,” Tajani told journalists in Cagliari on the sidelines of a press conference with his party Forza Italia this weekend.

Moscow slammed the Swiss summit as a “parody of negotiations,” because the event was primarily dedicated to discussing Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called ‘peace formula’, which Russia has dismissed as unrealistic.

Several other European leaders have started to call for a second round of international negotiations on Ukraine, this time with the participation of Russia.

Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that a new peace conference was needed soon and that “Russia must be at the table.” He insisted that Kiev and its Western backers needed to “explore what options are available” to settle the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has never refused to negotiate with Ukraine but has pointed out that such talks must not be based on some “ephemeral demands” but on the realities on the ground and documents signed during the last Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Türkiye in 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted last week, however, that Moscow does not see the proper conditions to begin peace talks to settle the conflict, and that it has yet to hear any statements on the matter from “the country that is actually directing this entire process,” apparently referring to the US.