Malta offers to host peace talks between Ukraine and Russia
Malta has proposed itself as a mediator for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, with Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg announcing the offer on Saturday following a dramatic public dispute between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Borg said he had reached out through private diplomatic channels to US officials to offer Malta’s services as a mediator, as he backed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s call for peace talks, News.Az reports citing Times of Malta.
“I have no doubt that many other countries have also made similar offers, but we are ready and willing to provide a space for talks,” Borg said, noting that Malta has hosted top-ranking US, Russian and Chinese officials over the past year.
The Foreign Affairs Minister was speaking on RTK103, one day after US President Trump and his vice-president JD Vance gave Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky a public dressing-down at the White House.
The public row shocked world leaders and derailed what was meant to be a signing ceremony for a rare minerals deal that would grant the US access to key Ukrainian natural resources.
Malta was among the few EU countries to avoid commenting publicly about the spat in its immediate aftermath.
Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on X that he hoped Ukraine would “Stay strong, stay resilient, stay united” despite the pressure.
When approached on Saturday, a spokesperson at the Office of the Prime Minister said Robert Abela's position was reflected in Ian Borg's offer to host peace talks.
While Maltese government officials kept a low profile, Borg implied that Malta backed Emmanuel Macron’s view of the ongoing conflict.
"There is an aggressor which is Russia. There is an aggressed people which is Ukraine,” the French President told journalists on Friday evening.
But if Malta is to play any part in securing peace, it must be wary of inflaming tensions or “attacking either side”, the minister argued.
Malta's call for talks reflects the position adopted by Italian leader Meloni, who said in a statement that it was time to meet and discuss "the great challenges of today, starting with Ukraine."
Every division of the West makes us all weaker and favours those who would like to see the decline of our civilisation," the Italian prime minister said on Friday.
Malta hosted a round of peace talks concerning the Russia-Ukraine war in October 2023, but with Russia refusing to take part in those talks the event went nowhere.
The country was more successful in building bridges in December 1989, when it hosted a high-level summit between US President George H. Bush and Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev that is widely recognised as a key moment in the end of the Cold War.
Former MP Franco Debono recalled that success in a post on social media on Saturday morning, in a call he made for the Maltese government to broker peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
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