ROME (Reuters) – The Italian government is working on a new decree to allow it to provide Ukraine with more weapons, a junior defence minister said on Thursday, in a move to help the country fight against the Russian invasion.
The decree “will come to light soon,” defence undersecretary Giorgio Mulè, a member of the centre-right Forza Italia party, told state broadcaster Radio 1.
Late in February, Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s cabinet adopted a first decree to send military vehicles, material and equipment for Kyiv and set up a system to help the refugees fleeing the country.
“Certainly we are not sending planes or tanks, from a military point of view it does not change much compared to those we already sent,” Mulè said.
Polls have show that public opinion about sending weapons to Ukraine is more divided than in other Western nations.
Commitments to send more arms to Ukraine have also come from many other European countries. During a trip to Kyiv, Denmark and Spain’s prime ministers said they would both send more weapons to Ukraine.
After coming under fire for its apparent foot-dragging on delivering the weaponry, also Germany said it was open to sending heavy weapons to Kyiv.
Russia calls its action a “special military operation” to demilitarise Ukraine and eradicate what it calls dangerous nationalists. The West and Kyiv accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of an unprovoked war of aggression.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Keith Weir)