FT: Merz tried to settle the conflict between Meloni and Macron because of Ukraine

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz tried to soften the diplomatic dispute between Rome and Paris over the exclusion of Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni from the group of European leaders coordinating actions with the United States on Ukraine, the British newspaper Financial Times writes.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz tried to soften the bitter diplomatic dispute between Rome and Paris over the exclusion of Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni from the group of European leaders coordinating their actions with the White House on Ukraine," the article says.

Merz met with Meloni on Saturday and tried to defuse the situation, the publication claims.

According to the newspaper, tensions arose when French President Emmanuel Macron accused Meloni of spreading false information. She said that due to the refusal to send troops to Ukraine was not included in the list of European leaders who met with Volodymyr Zelensky and had a joint telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump. At the same time, allegedly, the deployment of troops there was not discussed.

The French leader, the German Chancellor, as well as the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and On May 10, Poland's Kier Starmer and Donald Tusk took part in a meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing" in Kiev. As Politico wrote, citing European officials, Macron called Trump during talks in Kiev to enlist his support.

Following the results of the Paris summit of the coalition of the willing on March 27, Macron said that several representatives of the coalition are planning to be sent to Ukraine is a force of deterrence. As the French leader stressed, the initiative of Paris and London will not replace the Ukrainian troops, and the deterrence forces will not become peacekeepers. Their goal will be to contain Russia, they will be placed in strategic places predetermined with the Ukrainians. Macron noted that not everyone agrees with the initiative, but it is not necessary to implement it.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier stressed that Moscow sees no opportunity for a compromise on the deployment of foreign peacekeepers on the Ukraine. As the minister specified, when a foreign contingent appears on the In Ukraine, Western countries will not want to agree on the terms of peaceful regulation, since these forces will create facts on the ground.