Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Thursday the main message of his talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the leaders of France and Germany was that Italy wants to see Ukraine as a part of the European Union.
Speaking at a joint news conference in the Ukrainian capital, Draghi said he fully supported investigations into alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
“I want to say today that the most important message of my visit is that Italy wants Ukraine in the European Union. And it wants Ukraine to have candidate status and will support this position at the next European Council,” he said.
The EU holds a summit next week.
“We are at a turning point in our history. The Ukrainian people defend every day the values of democracy and freedom that underpin the European project, our project. We cannot wait. We cannot delay this process,” Draghi said.
He said that Italy wanted atrocities to stop in Ukraine and called for peace, but that “any diplomatic solution cannot be separated from the will of Kyiv”.
After holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the leaders signalled that Ukraine should be granted European Union candidate status, a symbolic gesture that would draw Kyiv closer to the economic bloc.
Olaf Scholz said Germany had taken in 800,000 Ukrainian refugees who had fled the conflict and would continue to support Ukraine as long as it needs.
“Ukraine belongs to the European family,” he said.
