The pair’s friendship blossoms as they face similar political problems, with illegal migration filling newspapers in both London and Rome
Rishi Sunak appeared to have made a new best friend on the diplomatic circuit on Wednesday, as he laughed with his Italian counterpart for the second day in a row.
Mr Sunak was pictured sharing a joke with Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, at a meeting of the Ukraine-Nato Council in Vilnius, Lithuania.
On Tuesday night the two were seen laughing at something on Ms Meloni’s mobile phone before heading into a leaders’ dinner at the centrepiece of the NATO summit.
Number 10 sources said they did not know what was on Ms Meloni’s screen.