Italy government renews Ukraine arms supply law for 2023

Italy's cabinet on Thursday adopted a decree allowing it to keep supplying Ukraine with weapons for the whole of next year without seeking formal approval from parliament for each new shipment, government sources said after a cabinet meeting.

Italy's cabinet on Thursday adopted a decree allowing it to keep supplying Ukraine with weapons for the whole of next year without seeking formal approval from parliament for each new shipment, government sources said after a cabinet meeting. The move follows assurances by new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that her administration would keep supporting Kyiv despite frictions on the issue within the ruling right-wing coalition.

The decree seen by Reuters, effective immediately but requiring a vote of confirmation in parliament within two months, extends an arrangement introduced by former premier Mario Draghi that would have otherwise expired on Dec. 31. The details of Italy's military supplies to Ukraine are confidential, but last month a governing coalition official told Reuters that Rome was preparing a new shipment including air defence systems that Kyiv had requested.

On Thursday, La Repubblica newspaper said Italy would give to Ukraine four batteries of the "old-generation" Aspide anti-aircraft system, with 18 missiles each, complete with radars. The shipment could be approved in late December or early January, the paper said.

While Meloni is a staunch supporter of Kyiv, her allies Matteo Salvini of the League and Silvio Berlusconi of Forza Italia have been much more ambiguous due to their historical ties with Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this week, the government tried to extend the Ukraine arms supply law via an amendment to an unrelated decree going through parliament, but backed down after complaints from the opposition.