Disagreements over support for Ukraine have caused a split inside the Italian government, according to a report by Italian daily newspaper Il Messaggero.
The rift emerged after Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who serves as Italy's minister of infrastructure and transport, spoke about potentially halting assistance to Kyiv. The remarks by Salvini led to an indirect clash with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
According to the newspaper, Tajani reaffirmed the government's pro-Kyiv stance and announced that new military aid would soon be dispatched. Salvini called once again for an end to Italian assistance, urging a complete halt to both economic and military aid.
Italian coalition divisions
Salvini leads the right-wing League party, while Tajani heads the center-right Forza Italia party. Both politicians serve as deputy prime ministers in the coalition government formed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party leads the governing alliance in Rome.
The Italian government has supported Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, providing multiple military aid packages alongside humanitarian relief. Italy is the third-largest economy in the European Union and an original member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
While the official policy of the administration remains aligned with Western allies on defense assistance, foreign aid has repeatedly tested relations between coalition partners. Tajani has consistently supported European commitments, while Salvini has questioned weapons deliveries and the wider economic cost of the conflict.
European Union funding disputes
The internal dispute in Rome comes amid wider tensions across Europe over continued funding for Kyiv. In Germany, figures previously expressed outrage over the refusal of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary to provide financial support for Ukraine.
Those tensions follow broader disagreements over European Union financing. Leaders of the 27-nation bloc previously failed to reach an agreement on providing an additional 70 billion euros in financial support to Kyiv for 2027.
