Aid to Ukraine, Tajani: 'Decree soon'. Generators for affected power plants also on the way

Regarding the aid from Italy to Ukraine "a new package is already ready that we will sign in the coming hours". So said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on the sidelines of the interinstitutional coordination table against international corruption, which took place on Friday 14 November in Rome. "We must work to build peace and we are absolutely convinced that progress can be made on this," Tajani added.

With the twelfth package of aid and weapons to Ukraine, Tajani then clarified, speaking in Naples on the sidelines of electoral events in support of Edomomndo Cirielli's candidature for president of Campania at the next regional elections, "we are in the home straight: three responsible ministers, Crosetto, Giorgetti and myself, have already given the green light to the package".

In recent days, Tajani announced that in addition to the 12th military aid package, new generators would be sent to rehabilitate affected power plants and help the population get through the winter. "Italy has so far allocated more than 100 million euro for Ukrainian energy resilience, including contributions and aid credits for the reconstruction of the energy system, green transition, and the protection of critical infrastructure," he explained, reconfirming his commitment to assisting the Ukrainian armed forces also in the context of the two European missions Euam and Eumam, and support for the European programmes Safe and Edip to strengthen the European and Ukrainian defence industries.

The contents of the Ukraine decree are, as usual, classified. Italy has never published a complete list of the armaments sent. The next package might include missiles. Ammunition that in that case, strictly speaking, could be the Aster, used for the Samp-T ground-to-air defence system, already supplied to Zelensky's troops a second time by Rome. The Aster are a family of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) developed by Eurosam (a Franco-Italian consortium) / MBDA, which are used both on ships and from land. At the end of October, the Ministry of Defence denied 'clearly and categorically the hypothesis of sending missiles or ammunition from theSamp/T system to Ukraine'. And in the last few hours, Defence Minister Crosetto reiterated that it is 'difficult to think of an improvement in the situation in Ukraine, regardless of military aid'. Previous packages have focused on strengthening air defence capabilities, a sector that has been recognised as crucial for the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure.

The issue of arms to Ukraine could be one of the topics on the table at the next Defence Council convened by the President of the Republic for next Monday, 17 November, which has as its agenda the examination of the evolution of ongoing conflicts but also the assessment of hybrid threats and the possible repercussions on Italy's security.