Italy has criticised Macron for "escalating tensions" over Russia's war against Ukraine.
Crosetto about the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine
Guido Crosetto, Minister of Defence of Italy, ruled out the possibility of Italy's direct involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian war and expressed his misunderstanding of French President Emmanuel Macron's statements about the involvement of the French army in the war if necessary.
The politician assured that he had no plans to follow the French leadership or support such initiatives.
Our position remains unchanged: we have always said that Ukraine needs to be helped in every way possible, and we are doing so, but we have also always ruled out direct intervention by our military in the conflict.
Guido Crosetto
Minister of Defence of Italy
Despite his unequivocal support for Ukraine from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, Crosetto prefers to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict, as he believes that escalating it into an even bigger one will not benefit anyone, including Italy.
As for sending Italian troops to Ukraine, the politician answered with an unequivocal "no".
Because, unlike others, we have a clear prohibition in our system on direct military interventions beyond what is provided for by the laws and the Constitution. We can only envisage armed intervention under an international mandate, for example, in pursuance of a UN resolution. A hypothetical intervention in Ukraine would not only be out of the question, but would also provoke further escalation of the conflict, which would not benefit the Ukrainians themselves, first and foremost. In short, there are no conditions for our direct intervention.
Crosetto's attitude to Macron's statements
Regarding French President Emmanuel Macron's statements about the possibility of French troops being involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Crosetto said:
"I don't presume to judge the president of a friendly country like France, but I don't understand the purpose and usefulness of these declarations, which objectively increase tensions.
