After Putin, Meloni says India can resolve Russia-Ukraine conflict

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday said countries like India and China could play a role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine. Meloni’s remarks, made at the Ambrosetti Forum in northern Italy’s Cernobbio city on Saturday — where she also held a meeting with the visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — came less than 48 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin also highlighted India’s efforts in solving the ongoing crisis in the region.

“It is obvious that if the rules of international law are broken, we will get a multiplication of chaos and crisis, but it is also obvious that with the multiplication of crisis, we will have a natural fragmentation of the geo-economic space, that is, in the long run, economic globalisation and questioning of the rules of international law will not walk together. This is what I also said to my Chinese counterparts, we must choose, because the two things do not go together. It is also the reason why I think that in the end nations such as China and India can play a role and must play a role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine,” said Meloni.

On Thursday, while addressing the 9th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin had also mentioned India’s role in providing a “helping hand” in resolving the issue.

“We respect our friends and partners, who I think are sincerely interested in addressing and resolving all the issues associated with the conflict (with Ukraine). China, Brazil, India... I am in contact with my partners and I have no doubt that the leaders of these countries, and we have the relations of trust and confidence with one another, will be really interested in providing a helping hand,” said Putin.

Meloni’s comments came after her meeting with Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum on Saturday where the two leaders discussed the latest developments on the ground and Ukraine’s “most urgent needs” ahead of winter.

“The Head of State thanked for all the allocated military and technical assistance packages and emphasised the importance of transferring the relevant weapons to Ukraine as soon as possible,” said Zelenskyy’s office after the meeting. It mentioned further that the Ukrainian President informed Meloni about the situation on the battlefield, the recent shelling of the country’s civilian and critical infrastructure and spoke about current defence needs.

“The leaders discussed steps to implement the decision of the G7 to provide Ukraine with nearly USD 50 billion from frozen Russian assets,” Kyiv asserted.

It added that the restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine, in particular of its energy system, was one of the issues discussed during the meeting.

Kyiv hits munitions depot in Russia

Kyiv: Ukrainian drones hit a munitions depot in the Russian region of Voronezh overnight, a Ukrainian security source said on Saturday, adding that Kyiv believed the depot was being used to transfer munitions and equipment to Ukraine. Alexander Gusev, the province’s Russian governor, said “explosive objects” had detonated after a fire in the region’s Ostorogozhsky district. A source said the facility was in the village of Soldatskoe. Reuters