Italy intends to supply the SAMP/T air defense system to Ukraine

Italy intends to supply Ukraine with a missile defense system to help defend against Russian attacks.

However, the technical issues must be addressed before these air defense systems would be dispatched.

Antonio Tajani, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated this on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Minister Tajani claimed that Italy is working with the French to resolve issues associated with the deployment of the SAMP/T.

“They have no brakes…but it would take time because there are technical challenges to make the instruments work, and the military commands are working on this,” he said.

Citing unspecified sources, Italian media reported that the Italian government was facing resistance from its right-wing allies Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi to approve a decree to ship weapons to Ukraine.

Both politicians have longstanding relations with Russia.

However, on Monday, sources from their respective political parties denied having any issues with the decree.

The media point out that another issue holding back the decision is concern about depriving the Italian army of air defense systems, as two of its five missile batteries are already committed to Kuwait and Slovakia.

As previously reported, at the end of 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation with Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy.

Meloni informed that Italy was considering providing Ukraine with air defense systems.

In early November last year, a representative of the ruling coalition shared with the media that the Italian government was considering providing Ukraine with a variety of air-defense systems. This regarded the medium-range Franco-Italian SAMP/T and Italian Aspide, as well as portable Stinger MANPADS.