The French and Italian leaders had a brief bilateral summit in Rome, aimed at easing relations between the two countries after weeks of public and private rebuttals over several policy initiatives put forward by the two countries.
On 3 June, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Rome for three hours to strengthen their bonds on a series of European-wide issues, including Ukraine, to trade and relations with the United States. The meeting was an initiative of Macron in the hope of cooling off more bellicose talks and converging on critical issues.
In a joint statement, the leaders emphasised that “the meeting highlighted strong convergences on the European agenda for competitiveness and prosperity, to be implemented ambitiously and swiftly.”
Both leaders support Ukraine without reserves, but Meloni has been sceptical of the joint Franco-British proposal to send peacekeeping troops on the ground to help keep an eventual peace agreement. Meloni was not part of a recent trip to Ukraine made by the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the UK. In their statement, they both emphasised the need for a just peace and are in favour of enhancing European defensive capabilities.
Another area of divergence is regarding the United States. Macron pursues a more direct approach towards the US and would like the EU to follow suit, while Meloni has kept a close relationship with Donald Trump. She was among the few European leaders invited to Trump’s inauguration and has been urging caution in retaliatory responses to his tariffs.
However, both countries have similar worries about the situation in North Africa and the Middle East. In particular, they have been monitoring a bolstering Russian presence in Eastern Libya as a way of keeping a foothold in the region after regime change in Syria ousted Russia’s ally Bashar al-Assad last December.
