Overview

• Quai d’Orsay called in Ambassador Emanuela D’Alessandro after Matteo Salvini mocked Emmanuel Macron and rejected sending troops to Ukraine.
• French officials told the ambassador the comments violated the climate of trust and undercut recent cooperation on support for Kyiv.
• Before the summons, Macron’s diplomatic adviser and the French ambassador in Rome asked Palazzo Chigi and the Farnesina whether Salvini spoke for the government and urged a repudiation.
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has not publicly distanced herself from Salvini’s remarks, leaving the diplomatic dispute unresolved.
• The row centers on France‑backed ideas for a European interposition force in Ukraine, as heavy fighting continues in the Donbass and Sergey Lavrov says no Putin–Zelensky meeting is planned.