ROME, December 17. /TASS/. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Rome has no plans to send troops to Ukraine.

"To ensure Ukraine’s security, a multinational force, led by the Coalition of the Willing, is to be deployed on a voluntary basis. I reiterate that Italy has no intention of sending its soldiers to Ukraine," she said in a speech to parliament.

The leaders of European countries issued a statement on Monday following talks in Berlin. They said that security guarantees for Kiev should involve the creation of "a European-led ‘multinational force Ukraine’ made up from contributions from willing nations within the framework of the Coalition of the Willing and supported by the US." The statement notes that the force "will assist in the regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine."

Moscow strongly opposes the presence of troops from NATO countries in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on August 21 that a move to provide security guarantees to Ukraine "through foreign military intervention on some part of Ukrainian soil" would be unacceptable for Russia.