Italian approval of sending Ukraine military support hits historic low
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Only 42% of Italians approve of sending further military aid to Ukraine according to a survey conducted by La Repubblica.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni at Chigi Palace in Rome on May 13, 2023(AP)
According to a survey conducted by La Repubblica daily on Monday, public approval of military aid for Ukraine has hit an all-time low in Italy, with only 42% in favor of further military supply.
In December, the Demos research institution and the University of Urbino conducted a poll of 1,298 Italians.
It discovered that the proportion of Italians in favor of continuing to give military help to Ukraine decreased from 50% in April 2022 to 47% in September 2023 to 42% presently, while the proportion opposing to ongoing military supplies climbed to 57%.
Notably, 56% of voters in the opposition left-centrist Democratic Party support sustained military aid to Ukraine, compared to 46%-48% of voters in the ruling coalition, according to the publication.
The opposition populist Five Star Movement party has the lowest level of support among voters, at 34%.
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Italy passed eight military aid packages for Kiev, the last of which was approved in December. The sixth package, implemented in early 2023, contained air defense equipment, most notably the improved Samp-T anti-aircraft complex.
Italy's Council of Ministers approved a measure in December to provide military, humanitarian, and financial aid to Ukraine through 2024.
According to statistics from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Italy supplied Kiev with 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), ranking 15th among donor countries.
Last year in May, the Corriere Della Sera newspaper reported that after supplying Ukraine with six military aid shipments, there is "not much left" in Italy’s military stockpiles.
Also in May of 2023, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the war in Ukraine as a "laboratory testing ground" for the military capabilities of the European Union from which they can learn and improve their military.
At the time, Borrell revealed the EU had supplied Kiev with 220,000 artillery ammunition and 1,300 missiles since the start of the war.
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Ukraine FM: Give us weapons, no need to use your own troops
The cost of supporting Ukraine's troops as a force instead of Western troops is "minuscule compared to the overall US military budget," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said in an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Kuleba has argued that this security investment serves the interests of the US military-industrial complex.
In contrast to some other countries considered "allies" of the US, Kuleba pointed out that Kiev is not requesting the deployment of troops on Ukrainian soil, effectively describing Ukraine's army as a proxy force.
"We kind of offer the best deal on the global market of security... Give us the weapons, give us the money, and we will finish the job," emphasized the FM before adding, "So you save the most important, you save the lives of your soldiers."
Elsewhere in his statement, the Ukrainian diplomat maintained that Ukraine "does not steal any money from American taxpayers," given that "the sum of money allocated to Ukraine is, to say the least, a very little part" of the US military budget.
