Talk of deploying Italian troops to Ukraine premature: President

ATHENS

It is too early to discuss the possible deployment of Italian troops to Ukraine, Italy's president said Friday.

"We are not there yet. The peace negotiations have not even started," Sergio Mattarella told Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Negotiating a peace deal acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine is the priority, he added. “We must seek with conviction and quickly a peace solution that does not humiliate either party, but that is just so that it lasts because a peace based on arrogance would not last long,”

“We must seek with conviction and quickly a peace solution that does not humiliate either party, but that is just so that it lasts because a peace based on arrogance would not last long,” he said.

Mattarella has served as the president of Italy since 2015, a mostly ceremonial role.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has dismissed the idea of sending European troops to Ukraine.

In an interview with Rai 1 Secolo on Tuesday, she described the British and French proposal to deploy EU troops for a potential peacekeeping mission as "very difficult to implement."

In his interview with the Japanese broadcaster, Mattarella also emphasized that Italy and Japan are both committed to an international rules-based order.

"Japan and Italy believe that rules must be respected and that when they are violated, dramatic conditions arise, such as those currently occurring in Ukraine," he said. "Rules that apply to everyone regardless of their size or the military or economic strength they have."

Different proposals to support Ukraine and boost European defense are being discussed as US President Donald Trump has called for a deal to end Russia's over three-year-long war.