Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani Before Their Meeting – United States Department of State

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Please.

FOREIGN MINISTER TAJANI:  (Via Translation) The United States is our main ally in the world.  We have excellent relations.  We collaborate and share a common perspective on major international issues.  We stand together in NATO at a political level, and our military forces work side by side to ensure peace and stability in the world.

We share a common vision of the situation in the Middle East.  We are working for peace.  We hope that a ceasefire in Lebanon can be achieved soon and are also working toward a ceasefire in Gaza, with a vision for the “day after.”  We also have a shared perspective on defending freedom and democracy in Ukraine.  Together, we work for peace—a just peace that means freedom, not surrender, for Kyiv.

For us, transatlantic relations are proceeding in the right direction, and I thank Secretary of State Blinken for his cooperation with us over the years.  We will continue to work with him.  We will continue to work with the United States because our relationship is so strong that it is not tied to any particular government.  We are friends with the United States.

I truly thank Tony for everything he has done and is doing to strengthen the bond between Rome and Washington.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, thank you, my friend, and I think I can simply say that I subscribe to everything the foreign minister said.  Simply put, the relationship, the partnership between Italy and the United States, has never been stronger.  And that’s a tribute to Italy’s leadership.  It’s a tribute to the strong leadership of Prime Minister Meloni, my friend the foreign minister, and we see that of course through Italy’s G7 year.  I couldn’t be more grateful for the collaboration.

Our countries are standing together along with other partners to deal with the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine.  We’re standing together to deal with some of the challenges posed by China.  We’re standing together in looking to bring a sustainable, lasting peace in the Middle East.  We’re standing together in looking to what we can do to address the needs and the interests of the global majority countries.

In these areas and so many more, Italy, the United States, our G7 partners are the strongest of collaborators.  And again, so much of this is thanks to the great leadership we’ve seen here with the foreign minister and the prime minister.  Thank you, my friend.

FOREIGN MINISTER TAJANI:  Thank you.  Thank you very much.