Italy will help speed up start of talks on Ukraine's accession to EU - Meloni

Italy will help Ukraine fulfill as soon as possible the criteria necessary for its full membership in the European Union and speed up the beginning of negotiations on the country's joining the European community.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this at a joint meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in Rome on Wednesday, April 26, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"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. We see the huge efforts that are being made by the government in Kyiv despite the war in order 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 said.

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.

The bilateral conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine is taking place in Rome on April 26.