Former PM Giuseppe Conte, who leads the left-wing 5Star Movement, said earlier this week that further military aid to Kyiv could be reconsidered if the center-left wins the next election.
“Conte emphasized that the main objective is to reach a negotiated solution to the war by talking to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin,” the report said.
Polls show the 5Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party are polling roughly even with the right-wing bloc led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Politico said.
Public support for helping Ukraine, however, remains low in Italy. In an interview with La Stampa, Conte said his party initially backed military aid because there was an obvious military imbalance with Russia. Now, he said, Ukraine has a "highly equipped military arsenal," so the party will "continue to abstain from voting in favor of further shipments but to push for a shift toward negotiations."
Conte said the final decision on continuing aid should be made by left-leaning voters in primary elections that will choose the coalition leader for the next vote.
He also opposes raising the defense budget, one of Meloni's key priorities to meet NATO defense spending targets.
Conte’s remarks immediately caused a rift with the Democratic Party, the largest force in the center-left camp. Party leader Elly Schlein rejected the idea of determining policy on Ukraine through primaries. Schlein is expected to run against Conte for the leadership of the center-left.
Former Defense Minister and senior Democratic Party figure Lorenzo Guerini also got into the fray.
"If he [Conte] splits the broad coalition, he'll bear the responsibility. We support Ukraine by sending weapons. The PD will support Kyiv,” Politico quoted Guerini.
"Military aid to Ukraine is a nonnegotiable issue. Period."
The Ukraine question also divides the right. Meloni's coalition partners in the right-wing League have been reluctant to back aid and oppose increasing the defense budget.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and
its Ukraine Support Tracker, Italy's military aid to Ukraine amounts to just
0.17% of GDP, one of the lowest shares in Europe.