Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Salvini claims that aid to Ukraine “fuels even more corruption” in the country invaded by Russian forces
Matteo Salvini, Photo: Mauro Scrobognamauro s / LaPresse / Profimedia
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday that additional aid to Ukraine would not help end the war with Russia but could “fuel even more corruption”, referring to a recent corruption scandal that has rocked the government in Kiev, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the dismissal of two ministers this week amid an investigation into an alleged $100 million energy corruption scheme, as Russia makes progress on the battlefield.
“It seems to me that there are corruption scandals involving the Ukrainian government, so I would not want the money of Italian workers and pensioners to be used to fuel even more corruption,” Salvini was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
“I don't think that sending more weapons will solve the problem. It seems to me that the things that have happened in the last hours, with the advance of Russian troops, tell us that it is in everyone's interest, first and foremost of Ukraine, to stop the war,” added the Italian deputy prime minister.
Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, established close ties with Russia before Moscow's troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Although he has so far supported Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's decision to send military aid to Kiev, he has avoided directly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Major corruption scandal in Ukraine
The statement of the Italian deputy prime minister comes in the context in which Ukrainian anti-corruption structures accused on Monday a number of close associates of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of being involved in a criminal group that embezzled 100 million dollars from Ukraine's energy sector.
At the center of the case is Timur Mindich, his former business partner, co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio, whom the National Anti-Corruption Bureau accuses of being the leader of a group that received bribes and illegal kickbacks from state energy company contractors in exchange for maintaining their supplier status and not blocking their products and services. According to the bureau, $100 million was laundered this way.
At first, Kyiv Independent writes, the president's office tried to downplay Mindich's role in the corruption case. But as more details emerged, Zelenskiy promised action. “Punishment is inevitable,” he said.
But Mindich managed to flee the country before he could be charged.
Salvini's statements, criticized by the Italian defense minister
Speaking in Berlin, Minister Guido Crosetto said it would be “absurd” for Italy to stop helping Ukraine.
“I understand Matteo Salvini's concerns, but I don't judge a country based on two corrupt individuals,” Guido Crosetto told ANSA. “We are trying to help civilians who suffer 93 percent of Russian attacks,” added the Italian defense minister, who is part of the prime minister's Brotherhood of Italy party.
Italy has just given the go-ahead for a 12th military aid package for Kiev and has pledged to help Ukraine overcome its energy crisis this winter by sending power generators.
Rome has not joined a NATO-led initiative to buy US weapons for Ukraine. A source said the issue was still under discussion at government level.
