Italy refuses to buy US weapons for Ukraine, but still plans to assist

Sources in the Italian government say that they do not plan to buy weapons from the United States and transfer them to Ukraine.

One of the reasons is that the Italian weapons systems that have already been provided to Kyiv, or may be provided in the future, are based on different technological configurations and will not be compatible with American equipment.

But a more important factor is the lack of funds that Italy can allocate for financial transactions of this type. According to the agency's sources, the only arms purchases from the United States that Italy is planning are the previously announced batch of F-35 aircraft scheduled for the next decade.

According to representatives of the Italian government, the only official request of the Alliance to European countries is their readiness to handle the logistics of transporting weapons provided by the United States to Ukraine.

This case is currently being discussed by the Italian Ministry of Defense. It is not yet clear what kind of commitments are involved.

Purchase of weapons for Ukraine

Trump has now changed his decision on military assistance to Ukraine; in particular, he said that the US will send Patriots to Ukraine, and the EU countries will pay for them.

Earlier, Trump announced the transfer of 17 Patriot systems to Ukraine. According to him, these systems can be deployed quickly. But Rutte later said that Trump had promised to provide Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of weapons.

According to media reports, Trump is considering giving Ukraine JASSM and even Tomahawk cruise missiles that can reach Moscow and St. Petersburg.

France has decided not to join the initiative to purchase American systems, and Hungary has also refused to participate in the joint financing of American weapons for Ukraine. Budapest will provide neither money nor weapons.