France's president Emmanuel Macron "can do what he likes" foreign minister Antonio Tajani claimed the day after Macron said he would send fighter jets to Ukraine and train thousands of soldiers to help it repel Russia's nearly-28-month-old invasion.
"Macro can do what he wants but 'vade retro' a third world war: we are not at war with Russia," Tajani told La 7's 'L'aria che tira' programme on Friday.
Ahead of the European elections this weekend, Russia's president Vladimir Putin has been "waging a propaganda campaign, a bit of a hybrid war," Tajani said.
"This much is certain: we will defend Ukraine's independence with the utmost determination, but we will never send an Italian soldier to fight there, nor will we supply Italian arms to be deployed in Russian territory," Tajani underlined.
Macron announced on Thursday that France would send an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine, train its pilots and an entire brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers.
Macron said France's moves were not "escalatory", that it was "working with our partners" and would act "on the basis of a collective decision" taken with its allies.
Ukraine has been pressuring Europe to boost its military aid, with Russia making battlefield advances in recent months.
