Italy's defence minister has said it is a "complete mistake, a major mistake" for the US to limit access to satellite systems and intelligence used by Ukraine to defend itself against Russian attacks. In a BBC interview, Guido Crosetto warned that any such move by US President Donald Trump's administration "makes absolutely no sense" and risked prolonging Russia's full-scale invasion rather than helping to bring peace. US officials have said Trump has not asked for the slowdown of internet speeds the US provides to Ukraine and which are vital for its war effort.
Trump has also denied that the US has stopped sharing early-warning alerts of incoming Russian aerial attacks with Ukraine. Crosetto's comments continue Italy's sharpening criticism of the US. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Trump's deal to buy diesel from Russia a "very risky choice", and said it would "grant Russia legitimacy" as it bombed cities in Ukraine.
Trump agreed the deal with Vladimir Putin, blaming Kyiv's own attacks on Russian refineries for rising fuel prices. Meloni, once considered so close to the US president she was dubbed a "Trump whisperer", said the move ran counter to efforts to bring Putin to the negotiating table. "Peace will come when Putin is convinced there is a stalemate, that he cannot advance any further," her defence minister told the BBC at his ministry building in Rome.
Crosetto was a co-founder of Meloni's hard-right Fratelli d'Italia party, which has led a right-wing government coalition since 2022, shortly after the start of Russia's full-scale war. "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," Crosetto warned.
Despite widespread public scepticism, Meloni's Italian government has been a strong ally of Ukraine from the start, sending both military and humanitarian aid. The specifics of those deliveries have always been classified. In our interview, the defence minister vowed that Italian military support would continue "for as long as this government is in place", though he warned that getting parliament to approve further deliveries would be "more difficult" as elections approached.
The vote has to take place by the end of 2027 and opinion polls currently put a new far-right party, Futuro Nazionale, ahead of all Meloni's coalition partners. Zelensky says Ukraine has right to defend itself after Trump calls latest strikes a 'disgrace' Inside Ukrainian offensive pushing Russia back - with Starlink playing a key role That party's leader, former general Roberto Vannacci, is openly sympathetic to Russia and opposes aiding Ukraine, arguing that Europe is wasting its money as Russia's military "continues to advance" on the ground. At a recent event in Tuscany, he described himself as "neither pro-Putin nor pro-Russian" but "pro-Italian".
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