Italy–Ukraine relations are the

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Italy has an embassy in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Ukraine has an embassy in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and consulates in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Italy is a member of the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and EU which Ukraine applied for in 2022. Both nations are members of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the Italian

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

ruled parts of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

with the city of

Caffa Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into ...

, and the town of Oleshia in modern southern Ukraine. The Genoese fortresses of Caffa (modern Feodosia), Cembalo (modern

Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...

), and Sudak remain landmarks of Crimea. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk was the location of a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-perpetrated

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

of over 500 prisoners of war of various nationalities, including 89 Italians. Italy recognized Ukraine's independence on 28 December 1991 and official

diplomatic relations Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

began on 29 January 1992.

Political and diplomatic relations

In March 2012, the Vice-Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries met in Rome to discuss political topics. In June of the same year, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko met Italy's then Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Marta Dassù in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

in the context of a

Central European Initiative The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, counting 17 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989. The body was developed on the basis of earlier experiences with The Alps-Adriat ...

Summit. Since the beginning of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, bilateral relations between Italy and Ukraine have changed. The Italian government, through the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, declared its “strong condemnation of Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine”. Italy has also underlined the violation of international law perpetrated by Russian authorities and has expressed its full support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Like other European nations and the European Commission itself, Italy supports the EU's action to isolate and exert economic pressure on Russia. Initially, the government of Italy was not manifestly determined to impose economic sanctions on Russia as a form of countermeasure after the breakout of the war. The Ukrainian president Volodymir Zelenskyy, through his official Twitter account, then criticised Italian Prime Minister

Mario Draghi Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, banker, statesman, and civil servant, who served as the prime minister of Italy from 13 February 2021 to 22 October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime mi ...

for his reluctance to apply more severe sanctions against Russia. Subsequently, Italian support to the Ukrainian resistance became stronger: for example the Italian Ministry of Culture has offered to rebuild the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater of

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

. Italy was a supporter of the Minsk Agreements for the cessation of armed conflict and establishing a dialogue with Russia.

State visits

Ukraine's president has visited the Italian Republic several times: in May 1995, in November 2002, in October 2008,in November 2015, February 2020 and in May 2023. The President of the Italian Republic visited Ukraine in 1996 and in 1999, whereas the Italian Prime Minister went to Ukraine in October 2003 and in March 2015.

Economic relations

According to 2021 data, Italy is the second largest export market for Ukraine with €3,288 million of export values, and the fourth largest EU exporter to Ukraine with €2,113 million of export values. The strongest connection in the economic field between Italy and Ukraine lies in the trade of

metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

products: in 2021 Italy imported metallurgical goods from Ukraine for a total value of 1 billion euros. In the agri-food industry sector, the economic exchange amounts to about 300 million euros, mostly in the exchange of wheat. Italy exports to Ukraine mainly machinery and equipment, tobacco, chemicals, clothing, and food products. According to the latest available data (2017), there are 175 Italian companies in Ukraine, with 6692 employees and an aggregate revenue of 433 million euros per year. The main Italian firms present in Ukraine are Ferrero,

Intesa Sanpaolo Intesa Sanpaolo Società per azioni, S.p.A. is an Italian international banking group. It is Italy's largest bank by total assets and the world's 27th largest. It was formed through the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in 2007, but has a ...

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

Mapei Mapei S.p.A. () is an Italian limited company founded in 1937 in Milan that manufactures chemical products for the building industry. History Innovation and research The company was founded and originally called ''Materiali Ausiliari per l ...

Saipem Saipem S.p.A. (Società Azionaria Italiana Perforazioni E Montaggi lit. ''Drilling and Assembly Italian Public Limited Company'') is an Italian multinational oilfield services company and one of the largest in the world. Until 2016 it was a sub ...

, and Selex. Another relevant

socio-economic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analys ...

phenomenon is the migration of Ukrainian women in Italy. 78,6% of the aggregate Ukrainian population in Italy consists of women, most of whom work in the care of old and disabled people. For Italy, Ukraine is also important for its role in the development of gas import routes.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Italy has an embassy in

. * Ukraine has an embassy in

and consulates-general in

and

. File:Embassy of Italia in Kyiv.jpg, Embassy of Italy in Kyiv

References

External links

Official website of the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy
.
Official website of the Italian Embassy in Ukraine

Bilateral relations of Ukraine {{DEFAULTSORT:Italy-Ukraine relations