Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, in Naples, on October 14, 2025. PHOTO: napolipress / Zuma Press / Profimedia
The Italian government will delay approval of a decree that would allow Rome to extend the supply of military equipment to Ukraine until next year, sources close to the matter told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday.
The delay comes amid tensions within Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition over support for Ukraine against the Russian-led war, which is about to enter its fourth year.
Meloni has pledged to help Ukraine resist the Russian invasion to the end, but her deputy, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, has questioned the rationale for continued military support.
The decree on aid to Ukraine was on the agenda of a meeting on Wednesday to prepare for the next day's cabinet meeting, but was withdrawn because the agenda was already too busy, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the government in Rome has sent 12 packages of military aid to Ukraine, including the essential SAMP/T air defense system, through the government decree system.
This authorization regime, through decrees, allows the Italian government to act without seeking parliamentary approval for each new round of military deliveries. The decree currently in force expires at the end of the year.
Once approved by the government, the new decree would take effect immediately, but would have to be ratified by parliament within 60 days.
In his criticism of aid to Ukraine, Salvini referenced the corruption scandal rocking the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as the US continues to push for a peace deal with Russia.
