Italy and Ukraine strengthen defence cooperation on drone production

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that they would work together to boost defence cooperation, including on drone production, after talks in Rome.

No concrete details were announced however, with Zelenskyy saying teams from the two countries would work on the details.

“Today we have discussed at length how to strengthen our cooperation in the field of defence,” Meloni told reporters.

“Italy in particular is very interested in developing joint production, especially in the area of drones, a sector in which we know very well that Ukraine has in recent years become a leading nation.”

Zelenskyy had visited Berlin on Tuesday, where he and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced a strategic partnership centred on defence and drones.

The Iran war has given Kyiv a chance to showcase its drone expertise developed over more than four years of war with Russia, with Zelenskyy dispatching specialists and visiting countries targeted by attacks from Iran, a Russian ally.

“Ukraine has developed a special format of security agreement, which we call the Drone Deal format,” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.

“Our expertise, military experience and our defensive capabilities in the fields of drones, missiles, electronic warfare and data exchange – we are proposing to bring all of this together with the capabilities of our partners, so that we support each other,” he explained, through an Italian interpreter.

Earlier on Wednesday, he said that cooperating on air defence was Ukraine’s top diplomatic priority, the day after regional authorities said Russian strikes across Ukraine had killed seven people, including a child.

“We need air defence missiles every single day, every day the Russians continue their strikes on our cities,” he wrote in a post on X.

Zelenskyy also visited Norway on Tuesday and following talks with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, both sides agreed to boost defence and security cooperation.

The day after receiving a drubbing from US President Donald Trump over Italy’s unwillingness to join the Iran war, Meloni repeated the need for the US and Europe to work together on Ukraine.

“A divided West and a fractured Europe would be the only true gift we could give Moscow,” she said.

Meloni has been one of Washington’s closest allies in Europe and has pressed Kyiv’s case with Trump.

But a day after telling the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that “I’m shocked at her,” Trump continued his criticism on Wednesday, telling Fox News, “We no longer have the same relationship.”

Italy has denied authorisation for some US aircraft involved in combat missions to land at Sigonella in Sicily.

Zelenskyy is pressing European countries to join the PURL programme, launched last year, that allows Ukraine to receive US equipment financed by European countries.

Italy has sent weapons, including the French-Italian SAMP/T air defence system, but so far has not signed up to PURL.

Additional sources • AFP