Zelenskyy asks Italian PM to mediate in talks with US on Patriot delivery
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Giorgia Meloni (photo: president.gov.ua)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to mediate negotiations with the United States on the transfer of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, reports Messaggero.
“Zelenskyy envisions a mediating role for Rome. He would like Meloni, the G7 chairman until the end of the year, to push Washington to transfer a significant number of Patriots before the star-studded election gets too close," the newspaper writes.
In addition, Zelenskyy and Meloni discussed the transfer of the second Samp-T air defense system to Ukraine, which was approved in June, but the delivery had to be delayed.
"According to the latest information, the Samp-T can be expected to be delivered by the end of September, as Meloni assured Zelenskyy," the article says.
Background
After the intensification of Russian shelling, Ukraine asked its partners for additional Patriot systems to protect against ballistic missiles. Germany, the United States, Romania, and the Netherlands promised to supply the system, and Italy promised to provide a SAMP-T battery.
However, only the transfer of the Patriot system from Germany to Ukraine is currently publicly available. This happened in early July. Another Patriot was presented to Ukraine by Romania.
