Ongoing White House pressure on Ukraine's Zelensky is having a chilling effect. After the US throttled its intelligence-sharing and weapons flows while demanding Ukraine halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, more European capitals have paused arms deliveries.
Italy is the latest, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni having postponed the delivery of the country's thirteenth military aid package to Ukraine.
The last shipment of Italian weapons to Ukraine was reported to have happened nearly a year ago, and this new one is said to be on hold pending the outcome of the US midterm elections.
The Meloni government is said to be fiercely divided on the issue, with internal fighting over the direction of Ukraine policy lately spilling into the public sphere.
According to Italian outlet Il Giornale d'Italia [machine translation]: "The US political calendar has therefore become the new point of reference in this Italian period of waiting. However, there is no indication as to which election result might help bring about a decision, nor has a date been set for the aid to be dispatched immediately after the vote."
Italian officials have sought to emphasize that this pause doesn't mean the shipment will be halted altogether, amid conflicting reports of a timeline.
Ukrainian media meanwhile provides some of the following background:
- Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini previously claimed that providing further aid to Ukraine could "fuel corruption".
- After being re-elected as party leader, Salvini publicly promised to do everything in his power to bring Italy's economic and military support for Ukraine to a complete halt.
- In response, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on 26 October that the new package had already been finalized and would soon be sent to Ukraine.
Another country to have recently 'stunned' allies by halting Ukraine military aid has been NATO 'eastern flank' member Bulgaria.
This past summer, the country's Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters, "What we are witnessing is a war of attrition, and no matter how much weaponry is amassed, its only result is the loss of human lives."
Ukraine earlier this month confirmed it is no longer receiving weapons from Italy:
Other Western allies have complained that policies of countries like Bulgaria and Italy are too 'Russia-sympathetic' - and have instead called to keep up the steady flow of arms to Ukraine forces.