The first channel in the daily news release reports:
“Italy has frozen the shipment of its weapons to Ukraine. The local press writes about it today. The journalists found out that Kyiv demands to provide it with anti-aircraft missile systems. But sources in the renewed government say that if the growing appetites of Ukraine are satisfied, Italy itself will be left without a reliable system of protection. It is also known that the authorities have not fully delivered their weapons and according to the previously reached agreements.”
It seems that the First Channel retells the information of the Italy24 portal, significantly distorting it. According to the Italian portal, sources in the Ministry of Defense and Palazzo Chigi (the official residence of the Italian Prime Minister) report that a new decree on the transfer of weapons to Ukraine is not currently being considered, but this does not mean the end of military assistance.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is due to visit Rome in the next few days. During this visit, Stoltenberg will meet with Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and Defense Minister Giulio Crosetto; together they must determine what weapons are needed to protect Kyiv and Ukrainian cities from Russian bombing.
One of the difficult moments is that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba turned to his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani with a request to provide the latest SAMP-T anti-aircraft missiles, but Italy does not have enough of them and transferring them to Kyiv would destroy the country's air defense. According to Italy24 portal sources, other weapons systems will be supplied instead.
The new decree on the supply of weapons to Ukraine will be the sixth, but deliveries under the fourth and fifth decrees have not yet been completed. A source in the Ministry of Defense claims that this work should be completed before starting a new one.
Italy24 sources close to Meloni and Crosetto say there is not the slightest doubt in the government that support for Ukraine will continue. Although there are supporters in the ruling coalition of immediate peace talks and a cessation of arms supplies to Ukraine (in particular, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini and the leader of one of the coalition parties, Silvio Berlusconi), a "high-ranking government source" said:
“These positions have no influence. The military support of Kyiv is not called into question. The position of the Meloni government is clear and unchanged: we continue to move forward along the chosen path.”
