United States President Joe Biden said ahead of a meeting at the White House Tuesday with Italian Premier Mario Draghi that he looked forward to reaffirming the strong friendship and strong collaboration between the two countries and discussing their continuous support for Ukraine.
The Ukraine war, sanctions, arms and gas are top of the agenda in the talks, scheduled to start at two pm eastern time, eight o'clock in the evening in Italy.
Biden tweeted: "This afternoon, I’m hosting a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy at the White House. I look forward to reaffirming the friendship and strong partnership between our two nations and discussing our ongoing support for Ukraine."
"The meeting will focus on coordination with Allies on measures to support the Ukrainian population and to counter Russia's unjustified aggression," a premier's office statement said.
"The two leaders will also discuss the excellent bilateral relations and underline the solidity of the transatlantic bond.
"Cooperation in the management of global challenges will be addressed, from energy security to the fight against climate change, from economic revival to the development of transatlantic security. "The two leaders will also exchange views on regional issues and on the preparations ahead of the G7 and NATO summits in June".
Unease at the policy of sending weapons to Ukraine to help it defend itself from Russia, meanwhile, is growing within Draghi's broad coalition government, especially from the 5-Star Movement (M5S).
On Sunday Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, former M5S leader, said that, while Italy "must support Ukraine and its army for legitimate self defence... we cannot contemplate supplying weapons to hit Russian soil".
The Washington Post said Tuesday the meeting between Draghi and Biden is taking place at another "whatever it takes" moment, for Ukraine, referring to the former European central banker's famous pledge on saving the euro.
After visiting the White House the Italian premier will then go before Congress and receive a prize from the Atlantic Council. |
|
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
