On Thursday, France's President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met to discuss “opportunities for cooperation” in migration, industry and space, the French presidency said.
The two leaders, who met on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels, also talked about “the need to continue to work for European sovereignty” in industrial policy and decarbonization.
They also reaffirmed “their determination to support Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and welcomed the agreement reached to provide the Ukrainians with the ammunition and missiles they need thanks to European industry,” the statement noted.
The leaders were meeting for the second time since Meloni took office last October as the head of Italy’s most right-wing government in decades.
At the time, Meloni denounced France’s reaction as “aggressive” and “unjustified.”
In February, she slammed Macron’s invitation to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Paris on the eve of a European summit as “inappropriate.”
Macron went on to welcome the Ukrainian president to the Elysee Palace along with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with Italian media reporting that Meloni had been upset that she was not invited.
European leaders approved on Monday the allocation of two billion euros to finance joint purchases of artillery ammunition that Ukraine desperately needs to counter the Russian offensive.
France and Italy will deliver a medium-range ground-to-air defense system to Ukraine to help it cope with Russian drone, missile and aircraft attacks.
Follow the latest news on Google News
