Troops, deminers, missiles: the details of the Meloni line on Ukraine at the table of the Willing

Italy is in the group of the 26 Willing who announced yesterday that they had reached an agreement to set up a 'reassurance force' that will deploy troops 'by land, sea and air' as a security guarantee for Ukraine once hostilities cease. But compared to the emphatic tones that have characterised the public statements after the summit by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been conspicuous by her silence.

Caution and low profile are the watchwords of the Italian government, sceptical about the possibility of a speedy conclusion to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and, as always, little inclined to share Macron's hyperactivity. Meloni, in video link-up from Rome, was more concerned with planting stakes than flaunting optimism for an agreement that is in any case judged to be in principle (it is impossible to know today what Ukraine will really need after the truce) and, by the French leader's own admission, variable geometry: each country will do what it can, and above all what will be feasible on the basis of the different political sensitivities within it.

Italy knows something about it: the League of Matteo Salvini (the new ambassador to Moscow, Stefano Beltrame, was the Carroccio leader's diplomatic advisor at the time of the Metropol and until his appointment held the same role for the Minister of the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti) is ready to thunder against any direct commitment of our country in Ukrainian soil. This is also the reason for the first outright 'no' reiterated by Meloni: no Italian soldiers will be sent on the ground. The line had been agreed by the Prime Minister and her deputies, together with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, in the meeting at Palazzo Chigi on 28 August.

There, the handbrake was even pulled on the hypothesis of taking part in demining operations, albeit described as 'merely humanitarian' by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who had recalled the special and recognised expertise in the field of both our military and our companies. But talking about it now is premature.

The only explicit commitment that Italy has undertaken as of now is to take part in 'monitoring and training' actions, but strictly 'outside Ukrainian territory' and in any case after the cessation of hostilities. In training,' diplomatic sources explain, 'our country already boasts a long experience that can be profitably put at the disposal of Kiev's needs.