Most Italians oppose NATO interference in Ukraine war: Poll

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The majority of Italians are against Ukraine being supplied with modern Western-made weapons, a Euromedia poll commissioned by Italian newspaper La Stampa found on Saturday.

52% of the respondents said they were against arms being supplied to Ukraine, an increase from the findings of a similar poll conducted in mid-December, the survey showed.

As of January 24, 68.5% of respondents were also against a possible NATO intervention in the war.

One in three Italian citizens, 33.9%, believe it to be necessary for Ukraine to be supported with German-made Leopard tanks, while 58% disapprove of this idea.

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Italians, 78.2%, believe that the Ukraine war is far away from them, the newspaper said, citing another survey commissioned by the Rai1 broadcaster, reflecting a general sentiment of carelessness toward the war in Italy.

A survey conducted in January for Greenpeace revealed that the majority of Italians, 55%, were against the government's plans to ramp up military spending by 2% in light of NATO's target for upping their member states' spending by 2028.

Earlier in the month, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that Italy would not be taking a decision on the supply of new arms to Ukraine until next month in light of ongoing domestic political tensions, cost considerations, and military shortages.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in late December that Italy was mulling sending air defenses to Kiev after a phone call between the two officials that saw Meloni underlining her government's "full support" for Ukraine.

Shortly thereafter, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto questioned whether Italy would be able to provide the aforementioned air defense systems to Ukraine.

Italy, under former Prime Minister Mario Draghi, managed to send Kiev five aid packages, which included weapons. Meanwhile, Meloni's government has been working for weeks to make a sixth delivery happen.

Meloni's Brothers of Italy party and its right-wing allies won the general elections in Italy in October, her victory marked the first of a neo-fascist since WW1 in Italy. 

During her first parliamentary address, one month after a historic election victory for the far-right, Meloni assured Italy's support for the EU and NATO, as she added, "Italy is fully part of Europe and the Western world" and that it would "continue to be a reliable partner of NATO in supporting Ukraine."

Zelensky is currently pressuring Ukraine's Western allies to increase the arms flow into Ukraine after the supply pool dried up a bit.