After the phone call, late yesterday evening, with Emmanuel Macron to discuss the talks on the war in Ukraine, the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi spoke today in Parliament - in the morning in the Chamber, in the afternoon in the Senate - in view of the European Council of the 24 and 25 March.

Yesterday, on the occasion of the videoconference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Draghi praised the "courage, determination, patriotism" of the Ukrainian people and confirmed Rome's commitment to provide the country, which is defending itself from the Russian invasion, aid "also military" against the "massacres" perpetrated "with ferocity", city by city, by the troops of Vladimir Putin.

ITALIAN COMMITMENT - “In the face of the horror of war, Italy is working with determination for the cessation of hostilities. We are committed to carrying out humanitarian truces, evacuations and to bring basic necessities to the population, ”said Draghi.

“Our will for peace clashes with that of President Putin who shows no interest in reaching a truce and this prevents the negotiations from proceeding successfully. His plan is to gain ground even with carpet bombing as in Mariupol. For this the international community has adopted increasingly harsh sanctions. The diplomatic effort can only be successful when Moscow wants it, but we must not endorse the opposition between the West and Russia or feed a clash of civilizations; many Russian citizens take sides against the war and protest putting their own safety at risk. To them the friendship and solidarity of the whole government and of mine ".

UKRAINE AND EU - The European Council, underlined the Italian premier, "will support Ukraine's accession to the EU, it will be a long-term process but Italy is alongside Ukraine, the European Union has already activated procedure but it is important to send further signs of encouragement to Kiev ”.

Reference also to China, which “plays a role of great influence in global dynamics, and it is essential that the EU be united in maintaining dialogue with Beijing. The EU-China summit on 1 April will be an opportunity to underline our position ”.