Meloni absent from Ukraine summit: 'Italy opposed to sending troops'. Macron denies her: "We have not spoken about it".

"With respect to this debate on the Italian non-presence in the meetings between Great Britain, France, Poland, Germany and Ukraine, I must reiterate something I have already explained several times, and that is that Italy has long since declared that it is not willing to send troops to Ukraine. It would not make sense for us to participate in formats that have objectives on which we have not declared our readiness". So said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a press point in Tirana. In the Albanian capital, the leaders of Poland (Donald Tusk), Ukraine (Volodymyr Zelensky), France (Emmanuel Macron), Great Britain (Keir Starmer) and Germany (Friedrich Merz) had a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump after the conclusion of the first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Turkey.

"I think it is a matter of clarity and consistency and I ask the same clarity and consistency from those who complain, the opposition for example. That is, do you ask us to participate in these formats because we should send troops to Ukraine or do you ask us to participate in these formats to take a photo and then say no? Because in these things you have to be serious and I am a serious person,' the PM remarked. "After that, of course, Italy, which has always supported Ukraine and continues to support Ukraine within the framework of what has been decided in the EU and the UN, continues to participate in all other tables, all other levels, all other formats, all other initiatives. On this specific initiative we have not given our availability. I hope I have been clear once again,' Meloni concluded.

However, the Italian premier's words are contradicted by the French president, "There is a misinterpretation, we did not talk about sending troops, the discussion was for a ceasefire in Ukraine on Sunday and today. Let's beware of spreading false information, there is enough of Russian information," Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference in Tirana responding to a question about Giorgia Meloni's words on the Summit of the Willing in Albania.

Today's meeting in Tirana between Meloni and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama 'made it possible to identify specific areas on which to focus the preparatory work in view of the intergovernmental summit' scheduled to take place in Italy. This is what is stated in the joint statement of the two leaders. The first of the sectors mentioned is defence: 'in the framework of the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Defence of 10 October 1995 and of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Defence of 18 September 2009' the 'strengthening of cooperation aimed at the supply of means and technologies in the field of Security and Defence and at the construction and management of naval and shipbuilding infrastructures in Albania, for the construction and maintenance of naval units and for the implementation of technical and professional training initiatives' is sanctioned. Energy: 'expansion of cooperation in the field of energy, on the basis of the Italy-United Arab Emirates-Albania tripartite agreement signed in Abu Dhabi on 15 January 2025, which envisages the production of renewable energy in Albania and an underwater interconnection for renewable energy that will link Italy and Albania'. Cooperation in the field of migration: 'establishment of a joint working group to deepen cooperation in the fight against irregular immigration and strengthen Albanian sea patrol capabilities'.