President Meloni’s closing press conference at the 2026 G7 Leaders’ Summit

INTRODUCTION BY PRESIDENT MELONI

Good afternoon, thank you for being here, and thank you for your work. We have just concluded the working sessions of a very important G7 summit, and I want to say that I am satisfied with its results. I would like to take this opportunity to thank President Macron for his hospitality and congratulate him on an excellent job at a time that is undoubtedly complex on the international stage. 

This was a significant summit, but I want to tell you, above all, that I found the atmosphere to be excellent. I think the agreement reached between the United States and Iran had a positive impact, and we all congratulated President of the United States Donald Trump, but it is a fact that we worked well together and were aligned on all the issues discussed, which was not a given. For us, I believe for all of us, this should be excellent news.

We had the opportunity to discuss in depth all the main issues on the international agenda, from the war in Ukraine to the situation in the Middle East, from global partnerships to shared economic growth, through to the development of artificial intelligence, on which a very detailed session was held – the closing session I just came from.

The results of the proceedings are reflected in eight topic-specific declarations: economic growth, international partnerships, the fight against drug trafficking, tackling human trafficking, critical minerals, a safe digital space for minors, collaboration in the fight against cancer, and combatting the Ebola virus.

I would like to point out that three of the focus areas we discussed over the last few days, or that are in any case the subject of the final declarations, come from, are a continuation of, the Italian Presidency’s work, namely artificial intelligence; international partnerships, which primarily means Africa; and, above all, the fight against human trafficking. This is the third consecutive year that the issue of fighting illegal immigration has been included in the G7’s work, meaning that migration management has now become a regular feature of this format and is a legacy of the Italian Presidency.

From my point of view, three cross-cutting messages essentially emerged from this summit: the group’s unity; the G7’s ability to engage in dialogue with partners, and I’d also say with an ability to look beyond what we would define as the ‘traditional blocs’ – many diverse partners have engaged with us over the last two days, including India, South Korea, Egypt, Brazil, Kenya, Ukraine, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The message is that dialogue is not based on blocs – dialogue is based on priorities; the third message is that the G7 deals with the major geopolitical challenges, but these are not abstract challenges – they are challenges that affect the lives and concerns of citizens. I am thinking of our cooperation in fighting cancer and tackling Ebola virus outbreaks, the digital space issue (which is something we also discuss on a day-to-day basis), drug trafficking, migration: these are problems that concern and have an impact on the daily lives of millions of people. 

Clearly, the international crises, meaning the wars, are having an impact on citizens’ lives. These issues, especially the war in Ukraine and the latest developments in the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf, are what, above all, dominated the agenda over the last two days.

With regard to Ukraine, as you know, we had a discussion with President Zelensky and reviewed the situation on the ground, which is very different from what certain Russian propaganda keeps trying to sell. We all agreed on the need to continue guaranteeing support for Kyiv by keeping the pressure up on Moscow, and I am very pleased that there is full alignment on this. In my view, the West’s unity and firm stance continue to be the most effective way to create the conditions necessary for a real negotiation process. The objective is still to foster direct discussions between President Zelensky and President Putin. However, while President Zelensky has so far shown a sincere commitment to resolving the conflict, not least through an open letter, of which you are all aware, sent directly to President Putin, no serious signs in this direction have come from Moscow, and we believe those signs are now necessary.

With regard to developments in the Middle East, everyone welcomed the agreement reached between the United States and Iran, and we believe this could be an important framework of reference for the overall stability of the region. It is clearly now important to work on its implementation, starting with the need to ensure safe and secure international maritime routes and full freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. In this context, I confirmed to our partners that Italy is ready to do its part, including as part of any missions that may be deployed to guarantee the safety of commercial traffic, of course subject to the necessary authorisations that are due and required in these cases.

During our discussions with Gulf nations, I also took the opportunity to once again suggest strengthening – I’d say structuring – the G7’s dialogue with Gulf nations, which, I want to stress again, in Italy’s view are essential partners not just in the energy sector but also in the fields of innovation, technology, economic development, and clearly also stability.

We also discussed the situation in Lebanon and in Gaza, which are also fundamental for regional stability. Our goal must be to foster lasting and structural solutions that go beyond the logic of short-term truces. Israel’s role will obviously be crucial in this as well. We now expect Israel to play a positive role in the peace process, and call for the inevitable domestic debate, dictated also by the election campaign, not to jeopardise the arduous process that the United States has initiated.

We also discussed the Indo-Pacific at length, which is an area that is crucial for global trade flows. This was above all an opportunity to share the importance of working more to diversify supply chains and to free ourselves of our excessive dependencies, with a particular focus on critical minerals and rare earths, in order to guarantee the continuity and security of supplies.

As I have already said, this two-day summit also provided us with an opportunity to discuss other important issues. We discussed mutually beneficial international partnerships, based on a cooperation model that you are now very familiar with and that stems from our Mattei Plan for Africa, which is cited as a point of reference in the final document. We addressed the issue of global economic growth and how to manage the increasing problem of global macroeconomic imbalances in a coordinated way. We talked about the development and application of artificial intelligence together with technology industry leaders, focusing on huge issues regarding the impact of artificial intelligence on our present and our future – I’d say on our democracies. 

The work of this summit is reflected in the eight declarations published by the Presidency, negotiated over the course of this year. I won’t go over the bilaterals because I spoke with all the leaders present over the last two days, during the many occasions we had, and so I won’t go into detail – you can ask me about them, if you want. 

In short, I am satisfied overall with the work we’ve done, with the atmosphere, and also with the level of the discussions and the issues we dealt with, the central importance of which I completely agree with.

I’ll stop here, if you agree; let me know what I can help you with.

[Courtesy translation]

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Inglese

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Codice video Youtube: 
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2026 G7 Leaders’ Summit

Tipologia intervento: 
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[This video is available in Italian only]

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