Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged support to Ukraine as long as necessary, including reconstruction, but warned of Italy’s limited resources and changing public sentiment after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Granada on Thursday.
Meloni met with Zelenskyy at the European Political Community (EPC) summit to discuss Italy’s upcoming military aid package, as Zelenskyy reported on social media.
Italy confirmed support for Ukraine will be “as long as necessary” to achieve “a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”, Meloni said, adding that Italy will also help rebuild Odessa.
“Supporting Ukraine is not only right but also the best way to defend the national interest. We have always stood by Ukraine, and that is what we will continue to do so in line with the demands that come and the need not to undermine or compromise our security”, Meloni (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR) said in an interview with Sky Tg24.
On Monday, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) announced Italy’s new aid package for Kyiv, with no technical details made public.
“The availability is there, but for now, it is only a declaration of intent”, explained Defence Minister Guido Crosetto (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR).
“You have to see what you are able to give without jeopardising the need to preserve an Italian Defence always. There is a continuous request from the Ukrainian side for aid. We need to see what we are able to give compared to what they would need”, Crosetto added.
As early as last January, the question of the partial emptying of warehouses containing national defence stockpiles was raised. According to arms companies, it will take two years to recover the amount of ammunition handed over to Kyiv, not including advanced defence systems.
“Italy has done a lot, focused a lot on anti-aircraft defence systems to stop attacks that go on civil and energy infrastructure, cities, schools. The problem is that we don’t have unlimited resources. And from that point of view, Italy has done almost everything it could do. There is not much additional space”, Crosetto admits.
Moreover, the war is having a drastic impact on Italian and European citizens with inflation, energy and migration all influencing the public’s opinion on the war and assistance given to Ukraine.
“If we want to defend Ukraine strongly, we must also pay attention to these consequences (…) Public opinion over time has become detached from the war because it has coincided with rising inflation, industrial, and production crises. All this has created a worsening of living conditions in the countries of Western democracies”, Crosetto stressed.
“In the winter there will probably be the Russian response to the Ukrainian counteroffensive (…) I think that next spring may be the period when having exhausted on both sides the weapons to try to impart a breakthrough on either side, an attempt at dialogue can be opened”, the minister concluded.
(Federica Pascale | Euractiv.it)
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