18:11⇢Meloni Skips Ukraine Summit Citing Troop Deployment Concerns
⌨The newspapers report on Italian Prime Minister Meloni's absence from a summit in Tirana with Zelensky and other Western leaders (La Repubblica, Corriere, HuffPost, ANSA, La Stampa, Sky TG24). Meloni defended her decision stating Italy would not send troops to Ukraine, though she reaffirmed support for Kyiv (Adnkronos, Il Giornale, Sky TG24). This sparked controversy when Macron contradicted her, claiming the meeting was about discussing a ceasefire, not troop deployment (HuffPost, La Stampa, Sky TG24). The summit included Zelensky, Starmer, Macron, Merz, and Tusk, with Trump participating by phone (Corriere, HuffPost, La Repubblica).