Meloni on peace plan between Ukraine and Russia: we are still very far from resolving the main issue

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has stated that there has been notable progress in documents concerning security guarantees for Ukraine; however, Russia continues to put forward unfounded territorial demands.

"I see important steps forward in the documents we are certainly discussing. Very good work has been done on security guarantees for Kyiv, which, among other things, stem from the Italian proposal to model them on Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Treaty," Meloni said, as quoted by Sky TG24.

"There is also work under way on Ukraine's reconstruction, and there is a peace plan which addresses many issues on paper. However, we are still very far from resolving the main issue – namely the question of territory – where Russia continues to make demands that, in my view, are entirely unfounded," she noted.

The Italian PM stressed that it is important not only to achieve peace, but to achieve a just peace.

"For when the norms of international law are disregarded, a situation is created that can only become more chaotic, and such a world does not serve our interests," Meloni stated.

On 18 February, the Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umierov concluded two days of negotiations with the United States and Russia in Geneva regarding possible parameters for ending the war.

Also in Geneva, Umierov held a separate meeting with representatives of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The Representatives of European countries were present at the venue of the Ukraine-US-Russia negotiations for the first time, although they did not take part directly.

Meanwhile, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported that the Geneva talks "got stuck", adding that the reason was the positions presented by Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky.