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ROME (Reuters)
Italy will submit a proposal for a worldwide ceasefire to the United Nations ahead of next year's Milano-Cortina winter Olympics, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
As a concept, a global truce during the Olympics dates to the ancient games in Greece where warring factions agreed to put down their arms for the duration of the event, so that athletes could safely travel to and from ancient Olympia.
Calls by Olympics organisers and the UN for global ceasefires have not been heeded on the occasion of modern-era Games since 1896, including the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Milano-Cortina Games open on February 6 and run to February 22.
"In view of the Milano-Cortina Olympics, we are presenting a proposal for an Olympic truce for all wars," Tajani said.
"We must be champions of peace," he said on the sidelines of an international conference in Rome. "We support the US plan (to end war in Gaza), and, as Pope Leo has said, we must never give up hoping for peace."
The 20-point plan presented by US President Donald Trump, on which Israel and Hamas militants began indirect talks on Monday, is seen as the most promising initiative to end the war.
