LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta has offered to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg confirmed following the shocking televised clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Borg said he had contacted private diplomatic channels to reach out US officials, offering Maltàs diplomatic services as a mediator, as he backed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melonìs call for peace talks.
“I have no doubt that many other countries have also made similar offers, but we are ready and willing to provide a space for talks,” Borg said, noting that Malta has hosted top-ranking US, Russian and Chinese officials over the past year.
The Foreign Affairs Minister was speaking during a radio interview, after US President Trump and his vice-president JD Vance gave Ukrainès President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a severe reprimand at the White House.
The public row shocked world leaders and derailed what was meant to be a signing ceremony for a rare minerals deal that would grant the US access to key Ukrainian natural resources.
Malta is among the few EU countries not to commenting publicly about the spat in its immediate aftermath. “If Malta is to host such talks, Malta cannot attack one side or another,” Borg insisted.
A spokesperson at the Office of the Prime Minister said the PM’s position was reflected in Ian Borg’s offer to host peace talks.
While Maltese government officials kept a low profile, Borg implied that Malta backed Emmanuel Macron’s view of the ongoing conflict. “There is an aggressor which is Russia. There is an aggressed people which is Ukraine,” the French President told journalists on Friday evening.
But if Malta is to play any part in securing peace, it must be wary of inflaming tensions or “attacking either side”, the minister argued.
Maltàs call for talks reflects the position adopted by Italian leader Meloni, who said in a statement that it was time to meet and discuss “the great challenges of today, starting with Ukraine.” Every division of the West makes us all weaker and favours those who would like to see the decline of our civilisation,” the Italian prime minister said on Friday.
Malta hosted a round of peace talks concerning the Russia-Ukraine war in October 2023, but with Russia refusing to take part in those talks the event went nowhere.
Malta was more successful in building bridges in December 1989, when it hosted a high-level summit between US President George H. Bush and Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev that is widely recognised as a key moment in the end of the Cold War.
– foto tourism office Malta –
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