Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney, at a meeting with the NATO Secretary General on Thursday, stated Italy's firm commitment to the Alliance and efforts to stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Maloney's statement is cited by the AR agency.
Maloney told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a meeting in her office that the best way to protect European security is to stay united.
"Given our main task today, Italy strongly supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and freedom of Ukraine. The political cohesion of the Alliance and our full commitment to supporting Ukraine is, in our opinion, the best response that NATO allies can give," Maloney said.
Days before Maloney was given the mandate to form a government, Berlusconi boasted that he had reconnected with Putin and they exchanged gifts as the Russian leader celebrated his 70th birthday.
Maloney responded to Berlusconi's comments by warning him that there is no place in her government for those who support Russia.
Maloney, who heads Italy's first far-right government after the end of World War II, declares her strong support for Ukraine in the war. However, her two main coalition allies, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and League leader Matteo Salvini, do not take such a hard line. They have also had ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past.
Stoltenberg, for his part, thanked Maloney for Italy's commitments to date, which, according to him, amounted to "hundreds of millions of euros" in the form of humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine and for the leadership of the NATO battle group in Bulgaria.
In a conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Maloney previously recalled her support for Ukraine and emphasized that Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions "does not have any legal or political weight."