France summons Italian ambassador after Salvini rejects Macron’s Ukraine troop proposal

France summoned the Italian ambassador after Italy’s deputy prime minister opposed the French president’s suggestion that European soldiers be deployed in Ukraine as part of a post-war solution, a French diplomatic source said on Saturday.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini used a Milanese dialect word loosely translated as “get lost” when asked earlier this week to comment on French President Emmanuel Macron’s demands to deploy European soldiers in Ukraine following any resolution with Russia.

“You go there if you want. Put your helmet on, your jacket, your rifle and you go to Ukraine,” he told reporters, referring to Macron.

Salvini, the populist leader of the right-wing League party and also Italy’s transport minister in the nationalist, conservative government led by Giorgia Meloni, has repeatedly criticized Macron, especially over Ukraine.

The Italian ambassador was summoned on Friday, the diplomatic source said, marking the latest in a series of diplomatic clashes between Paris and Rome before and after Meloni took power in 2022.

“The ambassador was reminded that these remarks ran counter to the climate of trust and the historical relationship between our two countries, as well as to recent bilateral developments, which have highlighted strong convergences between the two countries, particularly with regard to unwavering support for Ukraine,” the source said.

Macron, a vocal supporter of Ukraine over its war with Russia, has been working with other world leaders, notably British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to mobilise support for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.