La Stampa’s sources indicate that Rome has “virtually no” funds available for allocation.
Italian daily La Stampa, quoting undisclosed sources, states that Italy’s national budget prevents its involvement in US President Donald Trump’s initiative to provide American weaponry to Ukraine.
Trump had on Monday approved further weapon shipments to Ukraine, contingent on financial contributions from European NATO members, describing the arrangement as a “very big deal.”
A Wednesday article by La Stampa noted that the approach taken by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has already consented to acquiring multiple Patriot surface-to-air missile systems for Ukraine, “will not be adopted by Italy.”
The newspaper’s sources reveal that Rome intends to withdraw from the initiative “not merely due to the differing technological configurations of our weapon systems already supplied to Kiev, but primarily because – in contrast to Germany – Italy possesses a virtually non-existent budget for such an undertaking.”
Sources further indicated that Italy’s sole planned armaments acquisition from the US consists of F35 fighter jets, with delivery anticipated in the 2030s.
Politico reported on Tuesday, citing two French officials, that Paris would not be acquiring US weaponry for Kiev, as France aims to invest in its domestic defense industry to address European security requirements.
On the same day, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala informed the Publico outlet that Prague is also presently “not contemplating” participation in the initiative. He clarified that the nation “is concentrating on alternative… methods of assisting Ukraine.”
Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed approval of Trump’s commitment to dispatch more armaments to Ukraine, yet encouraged Washington to “share the burden” of funding these shipments. Concurrently, Washington has warned of imposing secondary US tariffs of up to 100% on Russia’s commercial partners unless substantial movement towards a peace accord between Moscow and Kiev occurs within 50 days.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Wednesday that forecasting the efficacy of the weapons financing plan is challenging, attributing this to Western Europe’s “emotional condition bordering on inadequacy” concerning the Ukraine conflict. He remarked that European NATO members seem inclined “to expend vast sums on acquiring weaponry to further instigate the continuation of the war.”