Italy's defence minister rebukes Trump for restricting Ukraine support

Guido Crosetto sat in his ministry building in Rome and told the BBC plainly: restricting American satellite systems and intelligence to Ukraine is a catastrophic error. The Italian defence minister, speaking in early October, said the move makes no strategic sense and will achieve the opposite of what the Trump administration claims to want. Instead of hastening peace, he argued, it will convince Vladimir Putin that Ukraine is weakening—and that he can still win.

The context matters. Trump's administration had begun limiting certain forms of support to Kyiv, though US officials disputed the extent. Trump himself denied that the US had stopped sharing early-warning alerts about incoming Russian aerial attacks. But Crosetto's concern was broader: any reduction in American backing, he said, sends the wrong signal to Moscow. "If Putin sees weakness on the Ukrainian side—and if the US deprives Ukraine of resources, that creates weakness—then he will believe he can win. So he will continue the war." Peace, in his view, comes only when Putin believes he cannot advance further, when the military situation appears frozen. Starve Ukraine of tools, and that stalemate never arrives.

This rebuke from Italy's defence minister reflects a widening rift between Rome and Washington. Earlier that same week, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had called Trump's agreement to purchase diesel from Russia a "very risky choice" that would grant Moscow legitimacy while it continued bombing Ukrainian cities. Trump had justified the deal by blaming Kyiv for attacking Russian refineries and driving up fuel prices. Meloni, once so aligned with Trump that she earned the nickname "Trump whisperer," now argued that buying Russian fuel undermined the very goal of bringing Putin to the negotiating table. Crosetto echoed her concern: weakness invites aggression, not negotiation.

Yet Italy's position is complicated by domestic pressure. Meloni's hard-right Fratelli d'Italia party has led a coalition government since 2022, and despite widespread public skepticism at home, Italy has sent both military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine from the war's beginning. The specifics remain classified. Crosetto pledged that Italian military support would continue "for as long as this government is in place," but he acknowledged that securing parliamentary approval for further deliveries would grow "more difficult" as elections approach. Voters must go to the polls by the end of 2027, and opinion polls show a new far-right party, Futuro Nazionale, ahead of Meloni's coalition partners. That party's leader, former general Roberto Vannacci, is openly sympathetic to Russia and opposes Ukraine aid, arguing that Europe wastes money while Russia advances on the ground.

The domestic mood in Italy reflects broader European anxieties. Energy prices have spiked, and that pain is visible in the streets. In Rome, secondary school students protested on Friday, some chanting "We want more classroom, not more bombs," complaining that resources flow to arms instead of education. Truckers in southern Italy have blocked roads over fuel costs. Polling tells the story starkly: a September survey by the Ixè institute found that only 18 percent of Italians support continuing to supply arms to Ukraine. A majority want the aid to stop.

Crosetto attributed some of that public resistance to Russian disinformation campaigns targeting "certain political figures" and narratives designed to weaken political will against Moscow. "It's very hard to explain to a citizen who's having trouble at the petrol pump that we can't give any concessions to Russia right now," he said. "But that's the only way to defend the future of that very citizen who's complaining." Italy, unlike Poland or the Baltic states, feels physically distant from the danger. It has a long pacifist tradition and deep historical business ties to Moscow. Those factors shape how Italians see the war.

Crosetto was unequivocal about Russia itself. "When one state crosses another state's border with tanks, when it bombs hospitals and schools, kills civilians and bombs power plants, and has been doing so for four years, I can only describe that as evil." He dismissed questions about whether Vannacci's pro-Russia views reflected broader Italian sentiment, saying he had "more serious matters to deal with." Those matters include a rising tide of cyber-attacks—"hundreds every day," he said, which he linked to Russia. Europe, he argued, had been too weak in responding. "You can't win a war if you don't fight back." Italy itself has not faced major sabotage operations like other Ukrainian allies, though a fire at an arms depot outside Rome in August raised questions; Crosetto called it "human stupidity" rather than arson. A report that Russia planned drone attacks from Mediterranean container ships remained unproven. But the cyber threat is real and constant, a daily reminder that the conflict extends beyond Ukraine's borders.