Italy satisfied with results of NATO summit in Washington

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Italy is satisfied with the results of this week’s NATO summit in Washington, the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Friday.

"The balance sheet of this NATO summit is positive," Meloni said, according to the state-run ANSA news agency.

"I'm satisfied, especially about the creation of a special envoy for NATO’s southern flank, which we had asked for and for which we will propose our candidate,” she added.

On the issue of Ukraine, which was among the main topics of the summit, Meloni said it was a focus of the meeting, especially on providing air defense systems to Ukraine.

Also responding to critics who argue sending arms to Ukraine fuels the ongoing war, she said: “It depends on what you send because if we hadn't sent air defense systems, the missiles would have been launched anyway, hitting many more people.”

The remarks came just days after Ukraine says Russian missiles hit a children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv, charges Moscow denies.