Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday on the third and final leg of a trip that also took her to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
In Abu Dhabi, she was received by President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Mellon’s office said their talks focused on the Middle East war and the conditions necessary to end it, “starting with the need to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
In Doha earlier in the day, she met Qatari leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss the energy crisis caused by the ongoing conflict.
Mellon’s office said she and the Qatari emir “addressed energy issues… and discussed possible measures to mitigate the shocks suffered.”
She also said that Italy was ready to “contribute to the rehabilitation of Qatar’s energy infrastructure, which is essential for energy security on a global scale.”
Italy is heavily dependent on energy imports and has seen rising energy prices with increasing concern.
Meloni arrived in Qatar from Saudi Arabia, where he met with the de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Her trip to the Persian Gulf, which has been targeted daily by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes, was not announced in advance.
Qatar’s emir’s palace said in a statement that the two leaders expressed the need to prioritize diplomacy to curb the current crisis in the Middle East.
Qatar has seen multiple attacks on its energy facilities, which it has said will severely affect its natural gas export capacity.
The purpose of Meloni’s trip to the Gulf “is to strengthen relations with these countries and to reiterate Italy’s support against Iranian attacks,” a Rome government source told AFP on Friday, adding that the region was a “crucial source of oil and gas for Italy.”
The source said Meloni was the first leader of a European Union or NATO country to travel to the Persian Gulf since war broke out on February 28 with a wave of US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader.
The far-right prime minister is one of the closest European leaders to US President Donald Trump.
But she has insisted Italy does not want to join the war effort, despite Trump urging other countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital for oil and gas shipments and has been effectively closed since the war began.
(sma)
