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Italian PM, NATO chief call for peaceful solution to Libyan, Ukraine conflicts

Xinhua, February 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Peaceful solutions to the Libyan and Ukraine conflicts were at the center of talks between Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Rome on Thursday.

"We believe Libya has to restart with the government in Tobruk that was democratically elected in 2014," Renzi told a joint press conference.

"The efforts of the United Nations (UN) should go in the direction of creating a sustainable peace," he stressed.

Stoltenberg expressed his concern for the deteriorating security situation in Libya as well as for the countless arrivals of illegal migrants and refugees from African and Middle Eastern troubled countries on Italy's Mediterranean coasts.

"NATO stands ready to support Libya with advice on defense and security institution building, as requested by the Libyan government," he said.

"By helping countries in North Africa and in the Middle East build up their defense capacity, we can project stability without always deploying our own forces," he added.

The two leaders also addressed the issue of the violent conflict between Kiev forces and armed groups in eastern Ukraine.

Renzi said Italy's objective was "to maintain and implement the Minsk protocol" which calls for a ceasefire and constitutional reforms to ensure that the rights of citizens in eastern Ukraine are respected.

"The Italian position is the same as that supported by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, G7 and the European Union (EU)," Renzi said.

"We agree that the Minsk agreement is the best basis for a negotiated peaceful solution ... Now it is important that all parties fully respect the ceasefire and withdraw heavy weapons," Stoltenberg told the press conference.

Also on Thursday, Stoltenberg met with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and held separate talks with Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti, as well as with members of the Foreign Committee and the Defense Committee of Italian parliament.

"Libya must be a focus of NATO," Gentiloni said after his talks with Stoltenberg, calling the stability of the North African country as "strategic" for Italy.

On Friday, Stoltenberg is set to address personnel at the NATO Defense College in Rome, before travelling to Naples, in southern Italy, for a visit to the Allied Joint Force Command Headquarters. Enditem