Italy to push UN Olympic truce for 2026 Games

Italy will formally propose a global ceasefire to the United Nations ahead of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced Tuesday.

The proposal aims to revive the ancient Olympic tradition of halting armed conflict during the Games to ensure safe passage and participation for athletes.

Tajani said the truce initiative will call for a pause in “all wars, including Ukraine and the Middle East,” and will be presented to the UN in the coming months.

“In view of the Milano-Cortina Olympics, we are presenting a proposal for an Olympic truce for all wars,” Tajani told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference in Rome.

“We must be champions of peace,” he said.

Tajani also expressed Italy’s support for the latest U.S.-backed plan to end the war in Gaza, saying, “As Pope Leo has said, we must never give up hoping for peace.”

The U.S. proposal, introduced by President Donald Trump, includes a 20-point framework and opened indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on Monday.

The Gaza conflict has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left 1,200 Israelis dead.

Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the Hamas-led assault, which ignited one of the deadliest and most prolonged conflicts in the region’s history.

While Italy has not officially recognized Palestinian statehood, several other Western nations have recently done so in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Recognition is seen as a step toward fulfilling Palestinian aspirations for an independent state on territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

In Ukraine, a brutal Russian invasion has entered its fourth year, becoming Europe’s largest armed conflict since World War II.

The war has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and displaced millions, while efforts to secure a durable peace have repeatedly failed.

Olympic truces have been part of the Games’ founding principles since ancient Greece but have rarely been observed in modern times.

Despite UN resolutions calling for ceasefires during every Olympic Games since 1993, conflicts have continued without pause — including during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 2026 Winter Olympics will run from February 6 to February 22 and will be co-hosted by the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Italian officials hope the truce proposal will revive global momentum for diplomacy during a time of rising international instability.