ROME: New Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed support for Ukraine in her first phone call on Thursday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, her office said.
Meloni's post-fascist Brothers of Italy party won the September elections, and last weekend was sworn in as head of a government involving the far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Forza Italia parties.
Both League leader Matteo Salvini and former premier Berlusconi have long had good ties with Moscow, although Meloni used her first address to parliament on Tuesday to emphasise Italy's place in the EU and NATO.
Meloni also spoke to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, highlighting the "deep friendship that binds" their two countries, according to her office.
She "stressed the importance of their transatlantic partnership, especially in the light of the historical challenges that Western democracies are facing, such as the war in Ukraine and the energy and food crises."
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