Ukraine, Salvini: 'Talking now about sending soldiers to Kiev makes no sense'

"Talking today about sending Italian soldiers to war zones makes no sense, I don't even bother to say who and how. First Putin and Zelensky must lay down their weapons and then we'll think about everything". This is what Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, said in response to the foreign press. As for military spending, "it can be increased, but the last thing I'll do is cut health spending to increase military spending. Or - he continues - it's all outside the package of European constraints, and then it's a different story, but if I have to decide whether to invest in hospitals, schools or tanks, it's trivial to say that the last choice is tanks".

"If after three years of war and deaths, a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine is being hypothesized, the credit certainly does not go to Europe but to Trump. Trump's push must be taken from a positive point of view, not as competition", says Salvini, hoping there will be "concrete peace dialogues". And on the sending of Italian soldiers, Salvini recalls that "we have 7,500 soldiers engaged in peacekeeping missions around the world for a cost of more than a billion. Before spending one euro more or hypothesizing sending one more soldier, we must be absolutely certain of what we are doing and how we are doing it, otherwise the example of Afghanistan is not far from our memory".

Costa: 'On March 6 we will decide on support for Kiev and EU defense'

"We are continuing to work on close European coordination. Today, President Emmanuel Macron briefed EU leaders on his meeting with Donald Trump earlier this week in Washington. Very useful to prepare our extraordinary European Council on 6 March, where we will take decisions on our support for Ukraine and on strengthening European defense," wrote the President of the EU Council, Antonio Costa, on X.

Meanwhile, Voldymyr Zelensky wrote on social media that " the territorial integrity, sovereignty and security of Ukraine are not and will not be subject to any compromise . The Day of Resistance in our Crimea is a day of respect for honesty, for Ukraine. And I thank all those who support me! Today - it continues - is a day of courage and honesty for all those who did not turn a blind eye to the Russian occupation of our Crimea. It was precisely these days, 11 years ago, that the Russian aggression against Ukraine began, precisely with the illegal and despicable seizure of Crimea. But the day of February 26 showed that there would be resistance: resistance from Crimea, resistance from all of Ukraine. This day showed that there are and will be people who will not accept lies and will not abandon their homes", he adds.

Lavrov: 'Europeans are inciting Kiev to continue the conflict'

European countries are urging Ukraine to continue the conflict in the face of "changes in the political balance," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "When the political balance of power over Ukraine changes, as is evident from the vote at the United Nations, Europe immediately tries to sabotage this trend, announcing new large military aid packages to Kiev, urging it to continue fighting," Lavrov was quoted by Tass as saying during a visit to Qatar. Russian and American officials will meet tomorrow in Istanbul to discuss the work of their respective diplomatic missions.