Ukraine, decree to extend arms transfer postponed

The decree-law to extend the authorisation to transfer military means, materials and equipment to Ukraine has been postponed. The measure was among the 18 on the agenda of the convocation - sent to the ministries this morning - of the technical preparatory meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of the Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for Thursday. But an updated convocation was sent out, with only 17 measures under consideration, and without that decree. According to government sources, the agenda was already heavy with urgent matters, and since the authorisation for the arms transfer to Kiev expires at the end of the month it was decided to postpone the decree

In the aftermath of the Russian offensive, the transfer of arms to Ukraine was provided for by a decree-law of 25 February 2022, which authorised it until 31 December of that year and subject to an act of address by the Chamber of Deputies. Then the measure was repeatedly extended from year to year with new measures passed by the Council of Ministers. In 2022 it happened at the beginning of December, in 2023 on 19 December, in 2024 on Christmas Eve, and this year the decree with the extension could arrive in the Council of Ministers on Thursday. In the meantime, in these four years Italy has provided twelve packages of military aid to the Kiev government defined as many inter-ministerial decrees (which only need to be illustrated to the Copasir without further steps in Parliament), the last of which was published yesterday in the Official Gazette.

It has been weeks since the League has been demurring on sending new weapons to Kiev. Having secured the twelfth aid package, the vote in parliament on the new annual authorisation could be a test for the majority. Faced with the corruption scandal in Kiev Matteo Salvini used harsh tones. "Knowing that some hundreds of millions of dollars would not have ended up to save children or to defend Ukrainians who were attacked, but would have ended up for luxury villas, foreign accounts, a prostitution ring, who knows what else, of men very close to Zelensky is something that demands extreme caution. Before we talk about new weapons and everything else, let's wait to see what happens,' reiterated League leader Matteo Salvini on Saturday at the national assembly of Noi moderati in Rome.

'I'm siding with Italy. Ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is good for the boys dying at the front. It is good for the Italian and European economy. Those who get in the way of preventing an agreement between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are not doing Italy and Europe any good,' Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said today in his speech during the Alis General Assembly in Rome.

Among the government's latest decisions was to put on hold the decision to join the mechanism (Purl) for the purchase of American arms to be turned over to Kiev. 'As of now,' Meloni explained, 'we are not joining, then we will see but we have not given ourselves a deadline'.