ROME - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has just welcomed the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in London to have a bilateral meeting, prior to taking part in the summit on the common European defense and the safety of Kiev.

 The meeting comes after many world leaders have been meeting with each other and with Trump, as he continues his approach of ‘meeting with nations individually’ as opposed to addressing the EU as a block. Trump’s recent encounter has with Zelensky has sparked worldwide outrage as he appeared to take aim at Zelensky, perhaps in retaliation for the fact that Mr. Zelensky felt that it was appropriate to go on the campaign trail for Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election, a decision vehemently criticised by Vice-President J.D. Vance in the oval office this past week. 

  Meloni, who has established closes ties with Trump and the republican party, recently speaking at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) along with the likes of former 49-day UK PrimeMinister Liz Truss, did not appear to criticise or vindicate directly the actions of Trump in the oval office instead expressing her gratitude to Keir Starmer for organising a meeting between them as it in this particular moment in time it is ‘important to co-ordinate and talk to each other.’

 “We are all very committed to the goal that we all want to achieve, which is a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. I think it is very, very important that we avoid the risk of the West dividing. And I think that on this, the United Kingdom and Italy can play an important role in the construction of bridges,” said Meloni 

 "We have a very similar approach on the important issues that the world is facing at the moment," commented Starmer at the beginning of their meeting. 

 The meeting was demonstrative of the current excellent state of relations between the two nations and the many areas of the bilateral agenda. There was a particular focus on combating irregular migration and the fight against human trafficking, but also on energy, promoting investments, and defence cooperation.  

 Both Meloni and Starmer reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a highly strategic international collaboration programme involving Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan whose shared ambition is to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet. 

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