«Beijing can convince Putin to more lenient advice. The jets? Not foreseen at the moment»- Corriere.it

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is in New York with an intense schedule, which saw him address the Special Session of the UN General Assembly the day before yesterday, he will speak at the Security Council and he will also meet US Secretary of State Antony today Blinken.

At the heart of the peace settlement is the future of Donbass and Crimea. The Americans fear that European unity will break on this. What is the Italian position?

“Liberating Donbass and Crimea is not easy. Italy wants to work together with the others. The unity of the coalition is important, we must show no signs of abating. We have to find shared solutions. I said where to start: from Zaporizhzhia and the corn corridors».

But what if the point of arrival splits Europe?

«There are different sensitivities: those on the border, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians have been under the Soviet yoke for many years. When I lived in Paris as a child, there were many refugees in my building. I was three or four years old, they came from the Baltic countries, they had fled after the Soviet occupation. In the countries of the East they have suffocated the demonstrations with tanks: it is obvious that they have a greater concern…. An overall agreement must be found, and this game must be played above all by the Americans, the Chinese elsewhere, with the United Nations and Turkey. We need to sit down at a table and find a solution that guarantees the independence of Ukraine”.

Including Crimea and Donbass?

«It is clear that the ideal solution would be to free everything. But how long does a war like this last? We’ll have to see when we start negotiating. We cannot be the ones to close the negotiation ».

Do you have hopes about the Chinese peace plan?

«China is a friend of Russia, but it must convince her to take more lenient advice, because Moscow will not be able to win on the ground. Here you will see China’s capacity for peaceful leadership and stabilization.”

Besides the Samp-Ts, will Italy send long-range missiles? Drones? What do you think of the League’s skepticism about guns?

“We are not the United States. We cannot take other weapons away from the Italian armed forces. Everything we could send we sent. As far as planes are concerned, it’s not something on the agenda: training a fighter pilot requires months of training, otherwise you risk sending people to their deaths. You must have compatible weapons, you cannot field two aircraft of one type and two of another. The Italian Parliament has always voted in favor of sending arms: this is what matters, even if there may be different sensibilities in the language. Public opinion must also be taken into account. We are against the war but we help Ukraine, we are not at war with Russia».

After Berlusconi said that Zelensky “attacked Donbass” and that he would not meet him, how many hours of sleep did he sleep a night?

«We also have to interpret everything. Berlusconi has always been in favor of transatlantic relations. He has always voted against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is on the side of Ukraine. Then he is sorry for the fact that a climate was created that was different from the one he had created in 2002 to distance China from Russia… ».

Didn’t Meloni’s visit to Kiev risk being blown up?

“Absolutely no”.

Berlusconi’s words were echoed by the Russians.

“We don’t allow ourselves to be exploited by those who want to sow discord. Berlusconi and Meloni spoke after the trip».

What did they say?

«From Forza Italia: support for the government, collaboration, loyalty, therefore the government is as solid as ever. I spoke to Berlusconi this morning.”

And relations with the EPP?

«That incident is closed, I met Weber in Munich. The problem is cleared up. We need to talk about what’s happening today.”

As guarantor of Italian Atlanticism you told the UN: “There is no peace without justice” in Ukraine

«It’s not that Berlusconi told me: you mustn’t go there. Forza Italia’s policy has always been this. Berlusconi went to speak to the United States Congress».