This afternoon (16 February 2022) Home Secretary Priti Patel spoke to Luciana Lamorgese, Italy's Interior Minister, to discuss the current situation in Ukraine.
In what was a constructive discussion, both ministers reasserted that like-minded states must co-operate in their response to the situation in order to ensure that innocent lives are protected.
Moreover, they underlined their desire for a diplomatic resolution to be found.
The Home Secretary and Minister Lamorgese agreed that the safety of UK and Italian citizens still in Ukraine was uppermost in their minds and that it was also important to ensure that the interests of Ukrainian nationals in their respective countries were also protected.
The discussion also touched upon a variety of other matters, including in the field of cybersecurity.
The ministers agreed to speak again in the coming days.
