- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has strongly criticised Donald Trump ’s deal to import 300,000 metric tons of Russian diesel, calling it a very risky choice that legitimises Moscow, generates war revenue, and undermines Western sanctions.
- Delivering the starkest rebuke from a European leader to date, the Italian prime minister warned that a deal for Russia to deliver 300,000 metric tons of diesel to the US carried an "uncertain" outcome.
- Addressing the Italian parliament prior to an EU summit, she said: "It provides Moscow with legitimacy as its bombs continue to fall on Ukrainian cities, generates new revenue to finance the war, and implicitly weakens the effectiveness of sanctions."
- Meloni also urged the 27 EU nations to designate "an authoritative figure" to lead European negotiations regarding the conflict.
- The intervention coincided with fresh overnight Russian strikes on several Ukrainian energy facilities, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, prompting president Volodymyr Zelensky to accuse Vladimir Putin of "disrespecting" Trump’s so-called energy ceasefire.
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