Meloni hears Trump and prepares the Conference for Ukraine. But Salvini will not be there

In the plans of those who are assembling it , next week's Rome Conference on Ukraine will have to be seen as a shock for Europe. In front of Putin's Russia, of course, but also in front of the US who are managing the negotiations in these hours. There will be talk of reconstruction (concrete and democratic, with the return to local elections) but also of Kiev's entry into the European Union. A scenario dear to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and one of her two deputies Antonio Tajani, unlike the other, Matteo Salvini who has always stigmatized this choice . And so it will be a coincidence that precisely in those days - next Thursday and Friday - the head of the League and head of Transport will not be in Italy. The wisdom of fate will in fact place him almost ten thousand kilometers from Fuksas' "Cloud" in the Eur where the event will take place. Salvini is expected in Beijing on Thursday, the day after in Shanghai. Commitments decided long ago that are part of an Asian tour that will start on Monday that the minister really did not want to give up, even though his department on paper is among those most involved in the reconstruction of the territory, like the Ukrainian ones, largely lacking the most basic infrastructures. With many greetings to Zelensky.

The case is shaking Farnesina and Palazzo Chigi. Who knows if Salvini will send a video message to the conference or if he will send his deputy Edoardo Rixi. The incredible coincidence of agendas that do not meet is surprising while in Italy the government has been preparing this Conference for months, with a date known for a long time, the head of the Carroccio has finally managed to put together all the stages of a fundamental journey to study the perfection of trains and the architecture of bridges in Japan and China. So it is if you think so.

However, the Rome Conference was organized to go beyond the controversies, and perhaps the spite, of the majority. Meloni and Tajani have been taking care of the details for some time. And they will be the ones to open it. With a speech in the plenary session, which also includes speeches by Ukrainian President Zelensky, European Commission President von der Leyen, German Chancellor Merz (Germany organized the previous edition), Polish Prime Minister Tusk (Poland will organize the next edition), and Ukrainian First Lady Zelenska. Twenty heads of state and government are present. As anticipated yesterday by Il Foglio, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will not be in Rome (the former is a guest of the royal family in Windsor in those days). But precisely to send a message of European unity, Palazzo Chigi is keen to specify that "on the sidelines of Thursday's conference, a virtual meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing is also planned, in which Prime Minister Meloni will participate together with President Zelensky and other leaders present in Rome". A way to perhaps erase forever the Tirana incident last May when the Willing, but without the Italian Prime Minister, called US President Trump in front of Zelensky. Even in this case, it is not excluded that, with a creative diplomatic back-heel, European leaders will not inform the US president of the outcome of this event. After the phone call between Trump and Zelensky, yesterday the Prime Minister spoke on the phone with the US president to discuss duties and Ukraine. "I am confident: we must not wait for Putin's good will, but exert the right pressure for a just and lasting peace". Regarding America's military disengagement, the Prime Minister interviewed by Bruno Vespa for the "Forum in Masseria 2025" has scaled down this eventuality, reducing it to only air defense components. Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr., Trump's special envoy for Ukraine since March of this year, is expected in Rome for the White House.

These will be the days of Zelensky who has two visits on his agenda: one to the Vatican to Pope Leo XIV and another to the head of state Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale. They will also be the days of friendship between the two parliaments. On Friday in Montecitorio there will be the initiative promoted by the Collaboration Group between the Chamber of Deputies and the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada foreseen by the bilateral Protocol signed on 5 June 2017. For the Italian side, the members of the collaboration group, the presidents and vice-presidents of the Foreign Affairs and European Union Policies committees of the Chamber and Senate will be invited, as well as the presidents of the Italian parliamentary delegations to the assemblies of the Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE and ICE. For the Ukrainian side, the participation of about twenty parliamentarians is expected. The work will be directed by the vice-president of the Chamber Giorgio Mulè (Forza Italia) who chairs the Friendship Group and who in the past months went to Kyiv with an Italian delegation. The day ends with Meloni and Tajani united for Ukraine, but distant on internal politics. Especially if the ius scholae is involved: "It is not in the government program".

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