Sawt Falasteen - Rivals Meloni and Macron seek to mend fences in Rome talks

The far-right prime minister welcomed the centrist French president to her Palazzo Chigi office, the pair kissing lightly on the cheek and both smiling.

A guard of honour played both national anthems before the two European rivals headed inside for talks and a dinner, with no plans to speak to the press.

They are not natural political allies, but as the leaders of the EU's second- and third-largest economies, they are both grappling with the fall-out from the war in Ukraine, as well as US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs against the bloc.

Meloni on Friday acknowledged "divergences" with Macron but denied she had any "personal problems" with him, and said she was "very happy" with the visit.

An Italian government source said Rome and Paris hoped to "lay the foundations for a further strengthening of relations" between two nations "on the front line of the various fronts of international politics".

Macron's office said Italy was "an important partner" with "a crucial role to play in European decisions", particularly in the Ukrainian conflict.

Despite their political rivalry, the French presidency said the two leaders were showing they were "capable of moving forward together on the essentials".

- 'Undeniable rivalry' -

Their cooperation has been sorely tested by Trump, with the pair disagreeing over how to deal with the US president on both tariffs and Ukraine.

Meloni and Macron have and "undeniable rivalry", said Marc Lazar, a professor at Sciences Po university in Paris.

He said the pair were following different strategies with Meloni seeking "mediation and compromise" with the US president and Macron favouring "unwavering firmness".

Rome "believes that because it is ideologically close to the US administration... it will be able to force it to back down on trade tariffs", he told AFP.

But while Paris says it has "respect" for those who can "maintain the best possible relationship with President Trump", it insists trade negotiations are the responsibility of the European Commission -- effectively sidelining Meloni as a would-be mediator.

On Ukraine, Macron presents himself as the EU's go-to man on the issue, speaking to Trump regularly and invoking the relationship developed during the billionaire's first term.

And he has seriously ruffled feathers in Rome with his attempts to put together a "coalition of the willing" ready to provide "security guarantees" to Ukraine.

In recent weeks, the French president's meetings on the Russian invasion with the British, German and Polish leaders -- but without Meloni -- have ratcheted up tensions.

Paris says that "between Europeans, the issue of formats must be arranged to achieve the best impact we can under the circumstances".

It says that Italy has always insisted the US take part.

But Lazar notes that as a nuclear power with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, France sees itself as less dependent on the United States.

The mood was not helped when an adviser to Macron dismissed Italy's proposal to grant Ukraine protection under Article 5 of the NATO treaty without Kyiv joining the military alliance itself.

The article stipulates that if one member is attacked all the others must act as if they too were attacked.

While that idea "deserves discussion", it would in practice be very hard to implement, Lazar said, not least "because if the Trump administration refuses Ukraine's accession, it is precisely because it does not want to implement Article 5 for Ukraine's benefit".

D.Qudsi--SF-PST