Europe is ready for war with Russia: what will Italy do after the Meloni-Zelensky pact?

“A war in Europe may not be imminent, but it is not impossible.” Music and words by Ursula von der Leyen, current president of the European Commission – i.e.
the government that governs the EU – and candidate of the People's Party for a new mandate at Palazzo Berlaymont in view of the European elections in June.
This is Rasa Jukneviciene, vice-president of the People's Party in the European Parliament and responsible for security and defense: “A commitment equal to 0.25% of GDP by each EU member state to arm Ukraine would be sufficient to guarantee that I can win this war." Naturally then there is Emmanuel Macron who, in recent days, has not ruled out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine as "everything necessary to ensure that Russia cannot win this war" must be done.
While on the front, after having hoisted its flag on Avdiivka, Russia has now conquered two other villages in the vicinity of the city – now reduced to a pile of rubble – thus continuing its advance, there is also a request for help from Moscow on the part of Transnistria, the pro-Russian independent republic which could also drag Moldova into this conflict, a country which in June 2022 received the status of candidate to join the EU.
In short, Europe is ready to spend billions and billions of euros to arm itself and in Western chancelleries it is no longer a taboo to talk about the possible sending of soldiers to Ukraine, a decision that would lead to an inevitable direct clash with Russia as has been underlined from the Kremlin.
The feeling is that all this war rhetoric in Europe can have two purposes: to make citizens digest that a good part of their money ends up financing the purchase of weapons and military systems, or to prepare the ground for an entry into war against Russia.
If this second hypothesis were true, what would then be Italy's position also by virtue of the recent agreement signed by Giorgia Meloni and Volodymyr Zelensky? read also So Macron risked starting the third world war Europe at war against Russia? Cloying propaganda aside, the current situation is that Russia is winning – slowly and with huge losses in this attritional conflict that has taken us back a century – this war, with Ukraine no longer having money, weapons and above all he is short of new soldiers to send to the front.
After two years of war Kiev's coffers are drained and it is having difficulty meeting the payments of soldiers' salaries and pensions, it does not have enough ammunition because Europe has sent 300,000 bullets instead of the promised million, it is unable to make good use of its few new weapons arriving from the West – most of the military aid will be available to Ukrainian troops not before 2025 or 2026 – because it does not have the necessary skills and, finally, it needs an additional 500,000 soldiers but is struggling enormously at home to find fresh strength.
In a scenario that could see Donald Trump return to being the president of the United States in November – we know well what the tycoon's thoughts are on this war -, Europe would seem to have understood that it will soon be called upon to deal with the Ukraine issue alone.
Given the situation on the ground and the enormous number of deaths, this would be a good time to start diplomatic negotiations with Moscow to save what can be saved before the Russian Army conquers new territories.
Instead, Europe seems to have embraced the thesis that we should never sit around a table with Vladimir Putin, a decision that will inevitably lead to a direct military commitment if we want to somehow prevent Russia from reaching Kiev.
Here then began the dirge of how Russia – after having conquered Ukraine – is not willing to stop, attacking the Baltic countries first and then the rest of Europe; an unlikely strategy that has never been feared by the Kremlin: Moscow, which has worked so hard to conquer 20% of Ukrainian territory in two years, how could it have the strength to face the limping community armies all together? Let us also remember that France – but also the United Kingdom – are nuclear powers like Russia, furthermore the Baltics are "up to date with payments" among the NATO countries and consequently, according to Trump's thinking, deserving of immediate military support from the United States in the event of an attack.
Italy's position Giorgia Meloni recently signed an agreement with Ukraine which states that "in the event of a future armed attack by Russia on Ukraine, Rome and Kiev will consult within 24 hours to determine the measures and the appropriate subsequent measures necessary to counter or contain the aggression”.
Thus, for years Italy has been militarily linked to Ukraine, but as explained by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in a hearing at the joint Foreign Affairs and Defense Commissions of the Chamber and Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Senate, "our agreement like those stipulated by France, Germany and United Kingdom, will not be legally binding." However, there are obligations deriving from being a member of NATO and the European Union: if the agreement with Ukraine is not binding, however, Italy will hardly be able to back out in the event of a country's entry into war against Russia.
Atlantic or Community ally.