French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian | Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images French ambassador to Italy to return ‘very soon’ Luigi Di Maio crossed a line, says French foreign affairs minister.

France's ambassador to Rome will return to Italy "very soon," French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday.

France last week recalled the ambassador, Christian Masset, after what Paris described as “repeated, baseless attacks” from the ruling Italian parties. The ministry added that such attacks were "unprecedented" since World War II.

On Thursday, Le Drian told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that "the return of our ambassador will be done very soon."

In the interview, Le Drian said the "initiative" of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio was an "episode too many," a reference to Di Maio's trip to France to meet leaders of the Yellow Jackets protest movement.

"His visit to France took place outside any diplomatic framework," Le Drian said.

Le Drian also called on Rome to decide "quickly" whether to go ahead with a high-speed rail link between Lyon and Turin, which the French have started work on but which the 5Star Movement wants to scrap.