What fools these emissaries be. Rather than fortifying the West in its quest to end the Russo-Ukrainian war, President Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general, weakened Europe’s hand by snubbing Giorgia Meloni’s Italy.

In assembling a team of Western diplomatic partners for the proposed second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia at Istanbul today, General Kellogg unilaterally excluded Rome. During an interview with ABC News, the general said, “We’ll have what we call the E3.”

Meaning, the national security advisors from Germany, France, and Great Britain. Quoth the general: “When we were in London, they kind of helped us mold a term sheet for Ukraine.” However, the Kyiv Independent reported on May 30 that a top aide to President Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, had engaged in a constructive dialogue with advisors to the leaders of the U.K., Germany, France, and Italy.

Although General Kellogg’s exclusion of the Magic Boot’s national security advisors made headlines in Italy, Prime Minister Meloni finessed the apparent rebuff with relative diplomatic ease. She was no doubt aided by the garrulous general’s headline-making gaffe: “Kremlin grins as Trump’s envoy signals no eastward NATO expansion,” as reported by Politico.

“It’s a fair concern. We’ve said that repeatedly. We’ve said that, to us, Ukraine coming into NATO is not on the table,” General Kellogg allowed. Yet he never mentioned Article 5, which states that an attack on one member of the North Atlantic Treaty constitutes an attack on all.

However, Signora Meloni did mention Article 5 — coupling Article 5’s security guarantee with Ukraine’s non-membership in NATO. The Kyiv Independent reported that “Meloni first suggested on March 6 that NATO could extend Article 5 protection to Ukraine without granting Kyiv full membership in the alliance.”

Signora Meloni reiterated that formulation in an address to the Italian Chamber of Deputies on March 19, arguing that “doing so would demonstrate whether Russia is serious about peace.” Had General Kellogg consulted with Signora Meloni and her national security team he might have strengthened the West’s hand, not weakened it.

Still, Signora Meloni is moving ever more confidently in the direction of Italy’s future. Moody’s recently upgraded Italy’s credit rating, a development that is going in the opposite direction of the rating of the United States by Moody’s and reflects a stabilization of prospects for Italy’s “economic strength, the health of its banking sector and the government’s debt dynamics.”

Indeed, Moody’s cited the Magic Boot’s “stronger-than-expected fiscal performance in the previous year and a stable political environment that supports the government’s economic plans.” Armed with such knowledge, Signora Meloni embarked on what can only be described as a groundbreaking sojourn to Central Asia — one that will likely give Vladimir Putin pause.

Signora Meloni has more than mastered the art of the deal. Thanks to her astute negotiating acumen, diplomatic outreach, and genuine charisma, Italy and Kazakhstan signed a series of deals worth 4 billion euros.

The president of Italy’s Council of Ministers put on a master class of geopolitical leadership in securing agreements across a broad swath of vital sectors — oil and gas, renewable energy, water resource management, agro-industry, and critical raw materials.

Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who was born in a land that was once part of the Soviet Union, hailed the significance of the accords with Italy. Noting that “Italy is Kazakhstan’s third largest trading partner and the largest within the European Union,” Mr.Tokayev underscored the “great importance to the development of trade between our states.”

Signora Meloni’s supply-chain statesmanship, which could effectively thwart Mr. Putin’s efforts at reconstituting the Evil Empire in Central Asia, has the added virtue of augmenting Italy’s — and the West’s — energy independence. A geopolitically stymied Putin would then have a greater incentive to come to the negotiating table with Ukraine.

At the Astana International Forum in Kazakhstan, Signora Meloni cited Marco Polo in reaffirming Italy’s historic mission “to create bridges and opportunities for dialogue” with Central Asia: “We have shown the way and our example has indeed led the path, as proven by the first EU-Central Asia Summit last April, which not surprisingly elevated the relations between the region and the European Union to a strategic partnership.”

No other leader in Europe has so skillfully and systematically managed to advance the fortunes of the West while denting Russia’s hegemonic impulses. Even without General Kellogg.