Italy’s Ukraine aid package stalls ahead of U.S. midterms, report says

Italy’s 13th military aid package for Ukraine, which is expected to include Aster 30 air defense missiles, is ready but frozen, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government appears to be waiting for the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3 before moving it forward, La Repubblica reported Tuesday.

If the delay continues, Rome would miss a deadline it set with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to the newspaper, Meloni’s government had promised both leaders the package would be approved by the end of October. With four days left in the month, the parliamentary committee that must be briefed on the package had not been called to meet, and the paper reported no sign that a meeting was imminent.

That committee, known as Copasir, oversees Italy’s intelligence services. Italian aid to Ukraine has been classified since 2022, and the government presents each package to Copasir before it moves forward. The previous 12 packages were authorized through interministerial decrees.

La Repubblica reported that the package has been pushed back several times: first from July, then from September, then until after a congress of the League, a party in Meloni’s governing coalition, and now until after the American vote. The government’s public statements have stayed general, the paper said, and officials in Rome are handling the issue with a mix of caution and embarrassment.

The most pressing item for Kyiv is the Aster 30, an interceptor missile fired by the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense system. Ukraine uses it to protect Kyiv and other cities from Russian attacks. Its targets include aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. La Repubblica wrote that only Italy, together with France, can supply the missile.

The October deadline traces back to July. After meeting Macron, Zelenskyy said Italy and France would speed up deliveries of Aster 30 missiles so they would arrive by October 2026.

In August, La Repubblica reported that the 13th package would center on air and missile defense. The paper said it would include four SAMP/T NG batteries, the newest version of the system, along with Aster 30 interceptors and seven long-range radars. It put the package’s value at nearly 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion), funded through European Union loans. The Italian government has not confirmed what the package contains.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto pushed back on those reports at the time. He said they gave the impression the package had already been approved, and that no new aid package for Ukraine had been formally adopted in 2026.

A Copasir briefing planned for Aug. 5 was also postponed, Italian media reported at the time. The reports cited concern in the government about public support and opposition to further arms deliveries from parts of the political right.

La Repubblica reported that Italy’s last shipment to Ukraine was made about 10 months ago. Pagella Politica, an Italian fact-checking outlet, found that deliveries authorized under earlier packages continued during 2026, even though no new package had been approved.