Ukraine, Meloni seeks Merz's backing on Trump plan not to have to choose between US and EU

The draft of the 28-point plan for peace in Ukraine, sent by the US to Kiev, forces Giorgia Meloni to a new balancing act: support Donald Trump without ifs and buts or side with the EU, which through its High Representative Kaja Callas has immediately expressed its perplexity about the lack of involvement of Ukraine and Europe? To break the deadlock, the premier relies on the axis with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. In a phone call today, the two leaders emphasised the importance of 'supporting the ongoing negotiation efforts' and reiterated 'the ultimate goal of a just and lasting peace, in the interest of the whole of Europe'.

The formula makes it possible not to attack the US president and indeed to praise 'the reference to solid security guarantees, integral to the broader framework of European and transatlantic stability, in line with what Italy has long proposed'. Other elements, the Palazzo Chigi note adds, were considered worthy of further study.

The PM will continue contacts with key counterparts on the dossier in the coming hours and tomorrow on the sidelines of the G20 in Johannesburg. Meanwhile, according to informed sources quoted by Reuters, Ukraine together with its main allies - the UK, France and Germany - is working on a counter-proposal to the 28-point peace plan led by the US. Will Italy be in the game?

However, the strategy is clear: look at the glass half full, glossing over what is wrong with the stars and stripes plan. More explicit was the Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, who in connection with the Fondazione Iniziativa Europa in Stresa commented: "The issue is what the aggrieved nation, the one that should make the greatest sacrifices on the basis of this plan, I am thinking of the cession of territories that have been defended at the cost of hundreds of thousands of victims in these more than three years of war, thinks about it. This is not a subject that can be discussed from the outside, we should talk about it with those who are paying the price of war on a daily basis, so the right interlocutor is the one who has to make the greatest sacrifice'. In short, with Ukraine.

Crosetto also recalled how Trump has accustomed us to 'his ability to throw his heart over the hurdle, to provocations from one side to the other. He has been very harsh in recent weeks towards Russia. The peace draft, which has come out informally, seems somewhat too harsh, instead towards Ukraine'. But it is a draft, precisely. "I am convinced that it is all part of a strategy to arrive at a solution that somehow satisfies everyone. What is clear is that the US, like almost all European countries, and first and foremost the Ukrainian people and government would like this war to end and we start talking about reconstruction, both physical and moral. I hope that this, which I do not yet consider to be a formal act, is a step towards really getting to a truce. Russia is still missing, it has been months since the historic meeting between Trump and Putin: we are still at that point'.