Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani on Tuesday said Italy could consider the
possibility of deploying troops in future buffer zones in
Ukraine as part of a UN peacekeeping mission while noting that
he did not believe European or NATO troops would be useful.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Lower House session, Tajani, the
leader of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, said "troops
were never discussed and I don't think it is useful to send
European or NATO troops to Ukraine.
"If we need to create a buffer zone, it is necessary to send
troops under the flag of the United Nations, and in such a case
Italy could be available, as is the case for Palestine, but
always with everyone's co-responsibility", said Tajani.
He added that "an interposition force must be under the United
Nations so it is neutral".
Tajani last week expressed scepticism about British Prime
Minister Keir Starmer's plan for 30,000 Europe troops to be sent
to Ukraine to maintain a possible ceasefire agreement brokered
by the US.
Earlier on Tuesday, government sources had said that the idea of
sending Italian troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping
mission, if a ceasefire is agreed, was not on the agenda, a
position that was also expressed by Government Programme
Implementation Undersecretary Giovanbattista Fazzolari.
"Sending European troops for a military cordon in Ukraine is a
hypothesis that France has long supported.
"Italy does not consider it the most effective solution,"
Fazzolari said.
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