Rishi Sunak greeted the Italian Prime Minister with a warm embrace at the welcome ceremony of the G7 summit.
Mr Sunak and Giorgia Meloni were pictured holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes in Bari on Thursday.
They can also be seen affectionately holding each other’s shoulders as Mr Sunak leans towards Ms Meloni.
It comes as the British Prime Minister is set to announce an extra £250 million for Ukraine and urge world leaders to do “whatever it takes” to defeat Russia.