Italy Not to Send Troops to Ukraine

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani declared on Saturday that all NATO-related decisions must be made jointly among member states and their allies.

Tajani emphasized that Italy will not send any soldiers to Ukraine, allowing only the use of Italian military equipment within Ukrainian territory.

Tajani stated, “We are part of NATO, but decisions must be made collectively. Kyiv's choices are its own, but we will not deploy a single Italian soldier to Ukraine. We will only permit the use of our military equipment within Ukraine.”

Italian Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini reinforced this stance, asserting that there is no question of lifting restrictions on Kyiv regarding the use of Western weapons.

Salvini remarked, “Italy is not at war with anyone. Even if we provide military assistance to Ukraine, there is no talk of lifting the ban on attacking military targets in Russia. We want peace, not conditions leading to a third world war.”

These statements were made in response to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's call to lift restrictions on Kyiv's use of Western weapons to target sites within Russia.

In contrast, Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, warned on Thursday that allowing Kyiv to use US weapons to strike strategic targets in Russia could escalate direct military confrontation with Moscow.

He noted that Moscow had specifically warned London that any strike on Russian territory would justify targeting British military facilities, whether in Ukraine or beyond.

Slutsky argued that the West's "fear-driven proxy war against Russia" is pushing the world towards the brink of a third world war, which would have no winners.