Meloni urges Western unity ahead of bilateral with US president at G7

According to Il Giornale, the watchword at Palazzo Chigi is prudence on two fronts: Trump’s recent criticism of Europe and the G7 as “irrelevant” in handling the Middle East crisis, and recurring reports of an imminent US-Iran peace deal that could potentially be sealed in Geneva as early as this weekend.

Italian diplomatic sources acknowledge that an agreement between Washington and Tehran has never been closer, yet caution that media reports in recent weeks have repeatedly overstated progress. The assessment mirrors remarks made by Giorgia Meloni during Thursday parliamentary briefings ahead of the G7 and European Council meetings scheduled for next week in Évian, France, and Brussels. While reaffirming Italy’s support for ongoing diplomatic efforts toward peace, the Prime Minister characterized current US-Iran negotiations as volatile and fragile.

The second reason for restraint is active coordination between Italian and American diplomacy to arrange a bilateral meeting between Trump and Meloni on the sidelines of the G7, which opens Monday in France. The French presidency has confirmed that all leaders of the seven major powers—Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Britain, Italy, and the United States—will attend Évian, including the White House occupant whose participation remained uncertain until recently.

The summit represents a crucial opportunity to restore what has become a noticeably cooled relationship between Trump and Meloni, with the two leaders having had no direct telephone contact for at least a month, as Il Giornale reports.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani responded to the American president’s accusations yesterday, clarifying that Italy was not, is not, and will not be at war with Iran, while emphasizing that Italy and Europe remain present in guaranteeing maritime traffic in the Red Sea through the Aspides and Atalanta missions. The measured response was coordinated with Palazzo Chigi, which chose not to engage publicly but instead signaled restraint while reiterating Meloni’s conviction that unity within the Euro-Atlantic front remains the only viable path forward.

With the French G7 approaching and representing the first genuine attempt at rapprochement between Western leaders and Trump, Italian officials see no strategic value in fueling controversies at this juncture.

The Évian summit marks only the beginning of an intensive period of international engagements for Meloni. Following the G7 on June 15-17, she faces the EU Council on June 18-19, where Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will feature prominently. A summit on Kyiv in the E5 format—comprising France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom—is scheduled for June 22 or 23 in Berlin, followed by the Italy-France intergovernmental summit on June 25 in Antibes on the French Riviera.

The Élysée officially announced the bilateral meeting yesterday, describing it as the first since the Quirinal Treaty entered into force in 2021. Italian sources contest this characterization, noting it is certainly not the first meeting between the two governments. Relations between the countries remain excellent, sources emphasized, though disagreements naturally arise as each nation defends its particular interests.

Nine ministers from each side will participate in the summit, accompanied by a Franco-Italian business forum. The public display of cooperation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Meloni will draw attention given the repeated tensions between the two leaders.

Lebanon is expected to feature prominently in discussions, representing what Italian diplomatic sources describe as an example of how Italy and France can work together effectively. Planning for the post-UNIFIL phase is underway, with Italian officials acknowledging that any operation cannot be undertaken by Italy alone but must include other actors, particularly Paris.

With information from Il Giornale