Italy will assist Ukraine as soon as possible to meet the criteria for full EU membership and speed up the process of starting accession negotiations.

This was stated by the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, during a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, in Rome on Wednesday, according to Ukrinform.

"We believe that the future of Ukraine is with us, that Ukraine will increasingly join our European family. We will help do everything in our power to speed up the accession process," said Meloni.

She noted that Italy sees the huge efforts that are being made by the government in Kyiv despite the war to get closer as soon as possible to the goals set by the European Commission in the accession process.

"We will contribute to speeding up the negotiations within the process of joining the EU" Meloni promised.

She noted that this concerns political support, however, as a bilateral conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine proved, Italy will also support the private sector and promote cooperation between enterprises.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella, during his meeting with Shmyhal, spoke in favour of Ukraine's swift EU accession. 

On April 26, the Bilateral Conference on Ukraine Reconstruction was held in Rome (Ukr), with the participation of Denis Shmyhal and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as other members of the government of both countries and representatives of international financial institutions.