GENEVA

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on Wednesday criticized the European Commission's ReArm Europe plan, calling it absurd amid the peace talks between the US and Russia to end the Ukraine war.

Salvini, speaking to reporters in Brussels, said: "While the US and Russia talk about peace, does it seem normal to you that some people in Brussels want to spend money on war?"

"These people really seem to me to be in a different world, out of reality, on another planet. Maybe they have already arrived on Mars thanks to (Elon) Musk," he said and added: "The EU was created to guarantee peace, not to fuel new wars."

He also noted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had a mandate to "defend the Italian national interest" and that the European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen's plan did not fall within this.

"The goal is to stop the weapons that are killing right now, both on the Ukrainian front and on the Russian front," he said.

The €800 billion ($868 billion) worth ReArm plan, announced by von der Leyen, seeks to strengthen Europe’s military capabilities by boosting defense spending, focusing on joint defense production, investing in the defense industry, and reducing dependence on non-EU suppliers.