Italy questions wisdom of Anglo-French plan to send peacekeepers to Ukraine

ROME, March 18 (Reuters) - A plan spearheaded by Britain and France to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia is likely to prove ineffective, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told parliament on Tuesday.

Britain said on Monday a "significant number" of countries were willing to join the project, but Meloni ruled out any Italian involvement. She reiterated that a better solution would be to extend NATO's mutual defence umbrella to Ukraine without offering it alliance membership.