Meloni proposes NATO-like protection for Ukraine without membership

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has suggested that Ukraine should be provided with security guarantees comparable to NATO membership but without formally joining the alliance, Bloomberg reports.

Amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, Meloni’s suggestion appears aimed at bridging the gap between US President Donald Trump’s stance against Ukrainian NATO membership – repeating Russia’s demand – and Ukraine’s need for strong security guarantees as part of any ceasefire with Russia. This marks Meloni’s first explicit endorsement of such a plan. Trump has been pushing Kyiv toward peace talks with Moscow, allegedly to end the war, but placing demands exclusively on Ukraine without any requirements for the aggressor state of Russia.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit of EU leaders in Brussels on 6 March, Meloni stressed the necessity of considering “more durable solutions” beyond merely deploying European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.

“It’s a different thing than entering NATO, but it implies extending the coverage that NATO countries have also to Ukraine,” Meloni said, according to Bloomberg.

The Italian leader specifically proposed extending NATO’s Article 5 – the collective defense clause that obligates alliance members to protect each other – to Ukraine, arguing this approach would be much more effective than other security proposals.

While the Italian prime minister has been viewed as a potential intermediary between Europe and the Trump administration, Bloomberg notes that her proposal is unlikely to gain support from the United States.

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