Meloni says EU needs one voice in Ukraine peace talks

Giorgia Meloni used a speech to lawmakers in Rome to argue that Europe should not let a small club of leaders speak for the whole continent on Ukraine. The Italian prime minister said the European Union needed one representative with the confidence and mandate of all member states if it was to take part in any future talks with Russia, a message aimed at the question of who gets to shape wartime diplomacy for 27 countries.

Her comments came days after the informal E3 format, Britain, France and Germany, met Volodymyr Zelenskiy in London on June 7 and backed a proposal for talks between the Ukrainian president and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz also set out five conditions for what they called a just and lasting peace. Meloni did not reject the need for Europe to engage Moscow directly, but she pushed back on the idea that a few major capitals could legitimately claim to represent the entire bloc.

The dispute underscored a familiar European tension: the efficiency of small-group diplomacy versus the legitimacy of broader inclusion. Donald Tusk sharpened that argument on June 9, saying Poland should be involved in Ukraine talks after being left out of the London meeting. Meloni echoed that complaint and suggested another meeting involving Warsaw and Rome would soon take place, signaling that Italy wanted a place in any future diplomatic channel that carries the weight of the European Union, not just a subset of its largest powers.

That question matters because Europe’s leverage in any future Russia-Ukraine negotiations will depend not only on speed, but on whether its diplomacy looks unified. The European External Action Service already has special representatives across different regions, and the European Union already frames any settlement on Ukraine around sovereignty, territorial integrity and credible security guarantees. Meloni’s proposal was therefore about political mandate more than institutional absence: who can credibly speak for Europe when the stakes are war and peace.

She folded the same logic into the Iran file, saying the European Union should be ready to ease sanctions if Tehran shows a willingness to negotiate, but also tighten pressure if Iran continues threatening freedom of navigation, supporting militias or violating international obligations. Brussels already maintains sweeping sanctions on Iran and has widened them to target people and entities tied to breaches of freedom of navigation and Iran’s support for Russia’s war effort, while still saying diplomacy remains the preferred route. For Europe, the test in both Ukraine and Iran is the same: unity that is not just efficient, but legitimate enough to carry weight.