ROME, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Italy is sending a frigate to protect Cyprus after a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island sucked it into the Middle East war, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday.

"To ensure the security of the European Union's borders, we are deploying an Italian frigate to Cyprus," Meloni said in a video message.

It was, she said, "an act of European solidarity, but above all, of prevention".

"But our position is very clear: Italy is not part of the conflict and does not intend to become part of it," she added.

The "Federico Martinengo", a frigate equipped with missiles and carrying over 160 personnel, set off from Taranto in southern Italy Friday afternoon, said media reports.

Meloni said Italy had been in "close talks" with Britain, France and Germany on how to "avoid further escalation".

On Thursday she said Rome planned to send air-defence assistance to Gulf countries hit by Iranian strikes launched in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.