Good afternoon everyone. 

Thank you. Thank you for your welcome and for the time we have spent together and are yet to spend together on this emotional day. I am particularly glad to be here; I very much wanted to come here on one of my first bilateral missions since the new government took office a few months ago. I wanted to do this to reiterate Italy’s full support for Ukraine against Russia’s aggression, to reaffirm that Italy has no intention of wavering on this and will not do so.

Almost a year has now passed since the day that turned back the hands of time in Europe by decades (this is also something we wanted: we wanted this visit to happen before 24 February). The party behind the invasion that began on 24 February last year thought that it would last for just a few days, but things did not go as expected. Things did not go as expected because the heroic reaction of a population willing to do whatever needs to be done to defend their freedom, their sovereignty, their identity, had clearly been underestimated.
This reminds me of the birth of the Italian State, President Zelensky. There was once a time when it was said that Italy did not exist as a nation, that Italy was merely a geographical expression. Then the Italian Risorgimento came along and Italy proved that it was indeed a nation. This is somewhat similar to what is happening to you today: someone thought it would be easy to make Ukraine surrender, because Ukraine was not a nation but, with your ability to fight, to resist, you have proven that you are an extraordinary nation. So, I first wish to say that, in the eyes of the world, Ukraine has already won the battle to assert its own identity.  

I read a verse in an Italian newspaper written by a young Ukrainian solider, who was a journalist before enlisting and who wrote poetry. He dedicated some verses to a comrade who had died and who had said to him “before the border, save this love that grows everywhere like wild blackberries”. This made me think, as it is about the love for one’s homeland being something that is born spontaneously and cannot be stopped; it does not need to be induced and is not something you can achieve with coercion.
We must remember this; we must remember that nations are built, above all, on the size of the sacrifices that people are willing to make together, on the size of the sacrifices that have been made together. This is a great lesson that Ukraine is teaching us today, and is something that has already been seen in the country’s history. Take the Holodomor for example, the act of genocide through famine caused by Stalin’s Soviet regime. I am proud to come here with a resolution approved by the Foreign Affairs Commission at the Italian Chamber of Deputies, regarding the recognition of the Holodomor as genocide, because peace among peoples can only be built on truth and on justice.

Ukraine is paying a very high price, as we saw this morning. We wanted to go to Bucha and Irpin to see the devastation and suffering with our own eyes, so we can also try and convey what we have seen to our own people, because the tendency is sometimes to tell a story through numbers and general concepts, but these are real lives, flesh and blood, death and suffering, the ability to react. I believe the human side of this story must be told, remembering that what happened in Bucha and Irpin is now also happening in many other Ukrainian cities – I am thinking of the symbolic city of Bachmut and of the news I heard this morning about people being killed at a market not far from here, at the same time as we were visiting the devastation of these past months. 

I shall say it again: I believe it is different to see this with your own eyes, and I will do all I can to share this story with all Italians. This is not about abstract concepts; people’s lives are at stake, and we cannot look the other way. I shall say something more: we cannot look the other way and it would also be very stupid to do so, not only because the people here are under attack, but also because Ukraine’s interests coincide with Europe’s interests. The fate of the European Union and western democracies also depends on Ukraine’s victory against those wanting to use force to trample on international law. Those who think that looking the other way will help to build peace are fooling themselves. Those who think they can look the other way are only bringing the war closer.

The Ukrainian people are fighting a battle for each and every one of us, and it is right that we do our part. This is what Italy has done since the beginning, also by working on a resolution of the conflict, as we have also done during our discussions today, envisaging ways to achieve this. We all want peace, but there must be an understanding of what peace means, because any peace that is unfair for Ukraine cannot be a real peace; any peace that involves Ukrainians surrendering cannot be a real peace, as this would simply be an invasion and an invasion is not peace, it is something else; just as a Russian victory would not mean peace, but rather an invasion; a defeat for Ukraine would only represent a prelude to a possible invasion of other European states. This is what some in Europe pretend not to understand. I believe things should be called by their proper name.

Those providing Ukraine also with military support are working for peace, and this is what we are doing every day, giving a population, that clearly did not have the same forces to deploy to begin with, the chance to defend itself.

I believe it must in any case be acknowledged that, besides there being an aggressor and a victim of aggression, today it is paradoxically the victim of the aggression that is presenting a ten-point peace plan to the international community. I am saying this because I heard this morning’s statement by the other side, claiming to have made best efforts to prevent the conflict. It remains on record that there is a victim of aggression and there is an aggressor. It remains on record that, paradoxically, the victim is the one looking for diplomatic solutions, trying to discuss possible peace plans. I believe these remarkable efforts by President Zelensky and Ukraine must be recognised.

We are ready to provide all possible assistance should the conditions arise for negotiations to begin; until then, we will offer Ukraine every kind of support. This is what we have done until now and will continue to do: military support (we are now at our sixth package, including also military equipment), mainly regarding anti-aircraft defence systems to defend civilians and strategic infrastructure, because the cynical game of trying to make the civilian population surrender must be met with a determined response; humanitarian support; financial support; civilian support (this morning, we saw the delivery of one of the many electricity generators that Italy has sent to support the civilian population); support for reconstruction. 

We have spoken a lot today about reconstruction, not only for when the conflict ends, but also now, because a destroyed apartment block being rebuilt is a symbol of hope, and because talking about Ukraine’s reconstruction means betting on Ukraine’s victory, knowing that Ukraine can win this conflict. I believe this is a great signal and this is why Italy is working to organise a conference on the country’s reconstruction, to be held in April. We intend to work together on this with great dynamism. Italy’s companies and top-quality producers have a lot of know-how to offer; we will make all this available, because Italy wants to play a leading role in this country’s reconstruction, starting from today.

Then there is political support. Italy acknowledges the legitimate European aspirations of Ukraine, which is fighting to defend the European values of democracy and freedom and is an outpost for security on the European continent. We therefore played a decisive role in supporting Ukraine being granted EU candidate status. Also in this regard, we intend to fully do our part, as indeed is also the case regarding an issue that is not discussed as much by others, but that is of primary importance for us: cooperation regarding culture and the protection of cultural and artistic heritage. Having the richest artistic heritage on the planet, Italy objectively has unrivalled experience in this field and we know that it can make the difference. We are already working together to defend Ukraine’s cultural identity.    
All these matters are included in the Joint Declaration we have signed today together with President Zelensky, regarding the path to peace, Ukraine’s path towards the European Union and the nation’s reconstruction.

In conclusion, I’d like to go back to the issue of reconstruction. This morning, I was thinking about the fact that the post-war period in Italy was a period of great growth and development. We now refer to those years as ‘the Italian miracle’, when Italy became one of the world’s greatest industrial powers and the nation it is today. I am certain that, over the coming years, we will also be able to speak about a ‘Ukrainian miracle’. This is my hope and this is the commitment I am making on behalf of Italy, to support this nation to reach this important objective. Volodymyr, I wish to reaffirm that Italy stands with Ukraine, the free world stands with you, and that we are in your debt, and will not forget it.  

[Courtesy translation]