Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has accused France and Germany of obstructing emerging efforts to end the war in Ukraine, arguing that senior figures in Western Europe are undermining negotiations led by the United States.
In an interview with La Repubblica, Salvini claimed that
some people in Paris and Berlin have internal problems and want to continue the war, perhaps in order to sell weapons.
Salvini also criticised European attempts to reshape U.S. president Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan, which many European Union governments view as overly accommodating to Moscow. Trump’s proposal, he said, was “remarkable and ambitious, even if some people mock it,” adding
I hope that no one gets in the way.
Salvini’s comments came as Trump is sending his envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow next week to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as part of efforts to finalize a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
European leaders have challenged Trump’s peace plan and have come up with their own counterproposal, with French president Emmanuel Macron cautioning against any Ukrainian “capitulation.”
Rather than facilitating peace, major EU powers seem to be obstructing it.
