Italy’s ruling parties have withdrawn an amendment that would have allowed the government to continue shipping arms to Ukraine through 2023.

The Italian publication Corriere della Sera reported on this.

However, the government intends to continue providing its military support for Kyiv. Instead of the said amendment, the Italian government is preparing a special resolution on the continuation of defense supplies to Ukraine.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, former Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s administration introduced measures that allowed weapons to be shipped to Kyiv without needing to seek parliamentary approval for each shipment.

That deal expires at the end of 2022, and the coalition backing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni initially sought to extend it until December 31, 2023. The coalition has amended the government decree, which is currently going through parliament.

However, the main opposition group, the center-left Democratic Party, complained that the decree in question was not directly related to Ukraine and accused the government of violating parliamentary rules.

In response, Parliamentary Relations Minister Luca Ciriani stated that the government would consider the possibility of carrying out these measures through a separate decree while ensuring its approval as soon as possible.

Support for Ukraine has been a contentious issue in the ruling coalition, which includes Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, Matteo Salvini’s League, and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forward Italy.

Meloni is a staunch supporter of Kyiv, while her allies Salvini and Berlusconi are much more ambiguous about their ties to Russia.

Earlier this month, a representative of the ruling coalition mentioned that Italy was preparing a sixth weapons package for Ukraine, which would include the air defense systems requested by Kyiv.

In an interview last week, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto assured to continue the supply of weapons within terms and methods agreed upon with NATO allies and the government in Kyiv.

The Democratic Party also supports Ukraine, while other left-wing opposition forces want the government to shift its focus from shipping weapons to intensifying diplomatic talks.