ROME — Italy has promised it will not use its spending on a new bridge to Sicily to reach NATO defense budget targets following a stern warning from a U.S. official.

Rome gave the guarantee after U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that alliance member defense spending should not be padded with cash for “bridges that have no strategic military value.”

The unlikely story of Italy placing a bridge in its defense budget got underway in June when NATO members agreed to push their defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Members agreed that of the total, 3.5% would be bonafide defense spending, while the other 1.5 percent could be spent to protect “critical infrastructure, defend our networks, ensure our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen our defense industrial base.”

In Italy, officials reportedly mulled the idea of classifying a new bridge planned to link the Italian mainland to Sicily as a project of strategic, military importance since it would allow easier access of bases on the island.

Italy allegedly told the European Union the bridge over the Strait of Messina would be of strategic importance to NATO and the EU, while Italian transport minister Matteo Salvini went on record last month stating the bridge was “evidently dual use for reasons of security.”

By defining the bridge as dual use, officials reportedly believed the €13.5 billion ($15.8 billion) budgeted for its construction could have qualified as part of Italy’s 1.5 percent of GDP defense spending, which corresponds to about €30 billion according to Italy’s current GDP.

Italian investment bank Equita has said that spending on the bridge could represent 0.2 percent of GDP a year - around €4 billion - during the peak construction period.

The bank said that defining the bridge as defense spending was “opportunistic accounting.”

This week in an interview with Bloomberg, Whitaker however signaled the U.S. viewed the maneuver in a poor light, prompting a quick response from Italy’s transport ministry.

“The Strait of Messina Bridge is already entirely financed by state resources, and no defense funds are earmarked,” it said in a statement.

“The possible use of NATO resources is not currently on the agenda, and, above all, it is not an absolute necessity,” it added.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.