At their meeting in Rome on 13th May 2023, the President of Ukraine and the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic issued the following declaration.
The President of Ukraine and the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine has shown remarkable determination in exercising its inherent right to self-defence against this unprovoked and unjustified attack. Russia must immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
The Italian Republic remains unwavering in its commitment to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. The Italian Republic commends the determination and courage of the Ukrainian people and armed forces and acknowledges their significant contribution to the security of the Euro-Atlantic area and beyond. The Italian Republic will continue its political, financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes – individually and through international cooperation in the European Union, in NATO, in the United Nations and in other formats.
The Italian Republic has made solid military contributions to Ukraine, which will continue taking constantly into account the most urgent and immediate needs of Ukraine to strengthen its defence capabilities. In addition to its national contribution, the Italian Republic is actively involved in the measures of the European Union and NATO in the military assistance to Ukraine and in the training of Ukrainian soldiers.
Beyond the military assistance, the Italian Republic has provided Ukraine with civilian assistance, including financial, humanitarian and emergency support. This assistance will continue. Among other assistance items, equipment donations from Italian energy companies have been mobilized to improve and rebuild the resilience of Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructures through the Italian Civil Protection and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
The Italian Republic supports Ukraine's initiative for a just and sustainable peace based on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Ukrainian Peace Formula includes a variety of important objectives, many of which the Italian Republic is already working on such as food and energy security. The Italian Republic stands ready to cooperate with Ukraine to ensure as wide an international participation as possible in the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula also through open events to be held in the near future.
Ukraine and the Italian Republic underline their firm commitment to bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes and other atrocity crimes committed in connection with Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The Italian Republic participates actively in the Core Group on achieving accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and welcomes ongoing international efforts, in cooperation with Ukraine, to ensure accountability with broad international support. The Italian Republic welcomes the agreement on the new International Centre for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague, and looks forward to its launch as soon as possible.
Ukraine and the Italian Republic reiterate their support for the investigations of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, which are a step towards accountability and have taken note of the court's arrest warrants. Italy has agreed to provide additional support to the International Criminal Court in order to enhance its capacities in the framework of the war of Russia against Ukraine.
Ukraine and the Italian Republic agree on the need to increase our collective pressure on Russia through further sanctions to weaken Russia's ability to continue its illegal war of aggression. Efforts to ensure the effective implementation of sanctions and to prevent and counter circumvention in and by third countries must be strengthened.
Ukraine and the Italian Republic will continue to work together with others to develop mechanisms to provide compensation for losses, injuries and damages caused by the Russian aggression. To this end, the international register of damage, to be presented at the Reykjavik Summit of the Council of Europe on 16-17 May 2023, is an important milestone. Our efforts will continue to explore appropriate options for the financing of a compensation mechanism, including a sound legal basis for the use of frozen and immobilized Russian assets, to support Ukraine's reconstruction.
On 26 April 2023, Italy and Ukraine co-organized an Italy-Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Rome with the wide participation of the private sector to enhance support and collaboration regarding the resilience and reconstruction of Ukraine and committed to coordinating closely on these matters by intensifying bilateral cooperation. The Italian Republic, together with international organizations and partners, is committed to participating in the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine after the war. Already now, it is important to lay the ground for an ambitious and long-term engagement that will create opportunities and enable the Ukrainian people to rebuild their country. Engaging all relevant partners, including private companies and international, with the aim of securing the financial support, investments and knowledge needed, is essential to ensure a prosperous future for Ukraine. Ukraine considers Italy and its companies to be primary partners in reconstruction.
The future of Ukraine and its people lies within the European family. The European Union has already recognized the European perspective of Ukraine and granted Ukraine the candidate country status. The Italian Republic strongly supports Ukraine in its reform efforts and in meeting the requirements needed to start accession negotiations in 2023, looking forward to a European Commission positive report.
In the NATO framework, the Italian Republic continues to focus on immediate support to Ukraine, contributing to a substantive upscale of NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package to Ukraine. The Italian Republic continues its strong support to bolster Ukraine's capacity to defend itself. Ukraine has the right to choose its own security arrangements. Italy fully supports the NATO-Ukraine Commission as a venue to further increase and expand the ongoing cooperation to help fulfil Ukraine's path towards the Euro-Atlantic family, consistent with the Bucharest Declaration. At the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, we look forward to addressing all these issues.