(Tribune News Service) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni agreed to work toward a conference in Italy next year focused on the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, even as a cease-fire with Russia remains elusive.

“We talked about cooperation and preparation for a conference in 2025,” Zelenskyy said in Cernobbio, Italy, after meeting Meloni at the annual Ambrosetti Forum on the shores of Lake Como. “Yesterday, I also met with the CEOs of several Italian companies,” he added in an an interview with the Italian broadcast RAI.

Zelenskyy urged Italy to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons and air defense, taking up the key theme from his speech to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in southwest Germany on Friday.

Ukraine has repeatedly urged Western allies to allow its troops to strike inside Russia with long-range weapons to destroy military jets used to attack with missiles and glide bombs — even as the U.S. Defense Department said such deep strikes would have “little strategic value.”

Moscow has stepped up aerial assaults recently, unleashing in the past week the largest barrage since its full-scale invasion started in February 2022. More than 100 missiles were launched against energy infrastructure across Ukraine, and more than 60 people were killed and hundreds wounded.

“There are many things we are working with Ukraine, including the post-war reconstruction conference in 2025 and hospitals,” said Meloni. “The only thing we cannot do is abandon Ukraine to its own destiny.”

Kyiv, which made an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in early August, has successfully used long-range missiles such as ATACMS, Storm Shadow and SCALP to destroy military equipment and personnel in Crimea, which Russia has illegally occupied since 2014.

Rome has signed a security agreement with Kyiv and agreed to send aerial defenses to the country through NATO. But pressure from Meloni’s government ally Matteo Salvini has seeped into other parts of the coalition.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto openly criticized the ground offensive in Kursk, calling it an escalation that would push a cease-fire “further and further away.”

Zelenskyy’s latest trip to Germany and Italy follows his pledge of a plan to force Russia to end the war. The Ukrainian president said he’ll present a blueprint to U.S. President Joe Biden and G-7 partners later this month, but has offered no details.

Kyiv is also working to build support among the countries of the Global South for a second summit on peace, which would this time involve Russia, unlike the first iteration held in Switzerland in June.

The support of countries like India and China is key for the initiative to succeed — Zelenskyy last month proposed holding a summit in India aimed at ending the war — and Meloni on Saturday emphasized that both countries can play a critical role.

Still, the Italian premier’s recent attempt to enlist Chinese President Xi Jinping to side with the West in brokering peace talks didn’t succeed, according to people with knowledge of the interaction.

Meloni traveled to China in July, touting Beijing as a potential key player in finding a resolution to the conflict.

A spokesperson for the Italian government declined to comment, and China’s foreign ministry declined to answer specific questions, saying only the two leaders exchanged “in-depth” views on bilateral issues of “common concern.”

In a readout of Saturday’s meeting, Zelenskyy’s office said the pair also discussed steps to implement the G7 decision to channel $50 billion to Ukraine from frozen Russian assets.

(Daryna Krasnolutska and Kateryna Chursina contributed to this report.)

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