France, Aug. 23 -- Salvini's latest jab at Emmanuel Macron risks undoing recent Franco-Italian rapprochement, rekindling a history of clashes over migration and Europe.

The Italian ambassador to France has been summoned to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister, lobbed a barbed remark at Emmanuel Macron, telling the French president to go to Ukraine himself if he was so keen on sending troops.

Speaking in Milan earlier this week, Salvini - Italy's transport minister and long-time leader of the far-right Lega party - was asked about the idea of deploying Italian soldiers to Ukraine, a step France and the UK have floated once conditions allow. His answer was characteristically caustic. ...