Overview
- Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told Emmanuel Macron to “put on the helmet, the jacket and the rifle” and go to Ukraine, dismissing French ideas for European troops.
- France’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador Emanuela D’Alessandro and said the remarks ran against the climate of trust and the historic relationship between the two countries.
- League leaders Massimiliano Romeo and Riccardo Molinari rejected European rearmament, joint debt for missiles and any troop deployment, urging deference to President Donald Trump’s mediation.
- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has not commented, as French officials and Italian media noted the absence of a government-level distancing from Salvini’s stance.
- The clash adds to recurring Paris–Rome strains and heightens concern over European unity on Ukraine strategy and post‑war security plans.