Overview

• Matteo Salvini confirmed he greeted Russian ambassador Alexei Paramonov during a PRC-hosted anniversary event at Rome’s Parco dei Principi.
• Salvini said the greeting was a matter of courtesy at a diplomatic reception, adding that he met many other ambassadors at the gathering.
• Democratic Party figures, including Filippo Sensi and Francesco Boccia, condemned the gesture as a disgrace and pressed for a formal government distancing from Moscow and support for Kyiv.
• The encounter followed fresh criticism of Italy by Paramonov over Rome’s reaction to a reported drone incursion into Polish airspace.
• Reiterating his priorities, Salvini argued defense resources should focus on domestic security rather than foreign deployments, a stance contrasted by critics with Defense Minister Guido Crosetto’s calls to bolster external defenses.