Italian leaders to invite Russia's Putin for speech in Parliament after Ukraine's Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to give a speech to Italian lawmakers on March 22 in the midst of conflict with Russia. As per the reports of La Repubblica, after Zelenskyy's speech, several members of Italy's ruling coalition of the 5 Star Movement and the League would also like to hear Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Italian Parliament.

It was announced earlier that Zelenskyy is scheduled to appear via video link to the Chamber of Deputies, the Italian Parliament's lower house Tuesday. Italian lawmaker Nicola Grimaldi stated that he and his colleagues Davide Serritella and Gabriele Lorenzoni would like to invite Putin to speak to the Italian Parliament via video link after Zelenskyy's speech.

Serritella claimed that inviting Putin to Italy's parliament is a suggestion of common sense and that it would allow MPs to push the Russian President on various delicate matters, including the Ukraine conflict. Many European countries have provided Ukraine with military and medical aid. However, Grimaldi, along with four other 5 Star Movement and League coalition colleagues, recently voted against a bill requiring Italy to send "non-lethal" military assistance to Ukraine, according to Sputnik.

Moscow and Kyiv are now in talks to end the war

Moscow and Kyiv are now in talks to end the war, with Russian official Vladimir Medinsky emphasising on Friday that the parties had achieved progress on a number of issues during the talks, including Ukraine's neutral status and its refusal to join NATO. He stated that one of the important topics of the negotiations is the subject of Ukraine's neutral status and no entry of Ukraine into NATO.

Putin stated that the special operation is going according to plan and that the techniques devised by the Russian Defense Ministry and General Staff have proven effective, according to Sputnik. Russia started its military operation in Ukraine on February 24 and has claimed that it intends to demilitarise Ukraine. The operation began after the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) requested assistance in response to the Ukrainian Army's continued shelling of their positions and infrastructure. Russian Defense Ministry has stated that the operation is solely aimed against Ukraine's military infrastructure with high-precision weapons, posing no threat to civilians.

Image: AP