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Italy plans to provide a second air defence system to Ukraine in response to pleas from Kyiv for more aid in shielding its cities and energy infrastructure from a renewed Russian air offensive.
Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, confirmed the upcoming donation in an interview with public broadcaster Rai late on Monday, although he did not give any specific timeframe for the delivery of the system.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stepped up his calls on western partners to send any available air defence systems. Ukraine has faced intensified Russian aerial assaults in recent weeks that have led to nationwide blackouts that Ukrainian officials warned are likely to extend through the summer.
If Italy were to send the system, it would be only the second western air defence donation since Zelenskyy made his first plea this spring. Germany agreed in April to send an additional US-made Patriot battery. Other Nato states, such as Greece and Spain, have so far ruled out sending any of their air defence systems.
Rome already provided one advanced Italo-French battery (SAMP-T) last year. The system has the capacity to track dozens of incoming missiles and intercept 10 simultaneously.
Details of the planned donation come just days after US President Joe Biden agreed that Kyiv could use some US provided weapons to strike targets in Russia, provided that they were directly related to Moscow’s current offensive against the city of Kharkiv.
However, Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto has publicly ruled out the use of Italian-made weapons systems against targets within Russia, citing a constitutional provision that forces Rome to “repudiate war as an instrument of offence . . . and as a means for settling international disputes”.
Crosetto declared the clause effectively barred Rome from allowing weapons it had provided to be used to strike Russian territory.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has downplayed the urgency of striking targets within Russia in order to help Ukraine. Instead, she said it was preferable to reinforce Ukrainian defences.
“It’s better to strengthen the capacity to equip Ukraine with effective anti-aircraft defence systems, a job also done by Italy with SAMP-Ts, without risking an out of control escalation,” she said.
The Italian leader is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and Zelenskyy’s government. But public opinion in her country is deeply divided on the continued provision of military support, with critics arguing that western aid to Kyiv is simply perpetuating a conflict without affecting its outcome.
Meloni’s coalition partner, Matteo Salvini, leader of the far right League party, has also raised the spectre of “global war” if Russia were to retaliate to strikes on its territory.
In the election campaign for the European parliament, he and other League members have been calling for a halt to any further weapons deliveries to Ukraine. “We are not at war with Russia,” Salvini said in a recent television interview.
Additional reporting by Henry Foy in Brussels