ROME, March 28. /TASS/. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in an interview with the Rete4 TV channel that she told French President Emmanuel Macron that she opposed his idea to send NATO troops to Ukraine.

"I oppose Macron's idea and I told him so. We need to be careful about our tone. And we need to be careful about how these things are presented and conveyed," she noted. Meanwhile, the head of the Italian government pointed out how discussions at the EU summit on the preparedness of civil protection services for crisis situations generated headlines in the Italian media in the vein of "preparing Europe for war." "It was exclusively about civil protection services and coordinated actions," she explained.

On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that during a meeting in Paris where representatives of around 20 Western states discussed further support for Kiev in the conflict with Moscow, the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine was raised. According to the French leader, participants did not reach a consensus on this issue, but such a scenario cannot be ruled out in the future. He later clarified his statement, explaining that "not ruling something out does not mean doing it." After the conference, representatives of most participating countries stated that they do not plan to send troops to Ukraine and are against their involvement in combat actions against Russia.

Both Meloni and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani have previously said that Rome thinks that putting boots on the ground in Ukraine will only make the situation worse, and should be avoided at all costs.