Italy Refuses to Fund US Weapons for Ukraine, Hegseth's Criticism Fails to Sway Rome

Italy has officially refused to fund the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine, even as NATO has amassed billions of dollars in commitments from member states. The decision places Rome on a divergent path while Western allies race to bolster Kiev’s defences. “We said no from the beginning, and that will never change,” said Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, explaining his government’s stance on the NATO scheme used to buy US arms for Ukraine, as reported by several Western media outlets. The statement was not merely a routine rejection. Crosetto was referring to the Ukraine Priority Requirements List (PURL), a NATO programme that allows member states to deposit funds to purchase American-made weaponry before it is sent to the Ukrainian battlefield. The value of the programme continues to swell. NATO announced this month that donors have pledged nearly 6 billion US dollars to PURL. The funds are primarily used to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences, which have been the target of Russian missile and drone attacks for months. Kiev’s dependence on this scheme is also significant. According to NATO, around 70 per cent of the missiles used by Ukraine’s Patriot batteries are funded through the programme. Furthermore, approximately 90 per cent of ammunition for several other US-made air defence systems also originates from the same scheme. So why has Italy chosen to step out of the supporting line? The list of contributors continues to grow. Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Sweden have all joined the programme. Sweden even recently announced an investment of approximately 543 million US dollars to help purchase armaments for Ukraine. However, Rome has taken a different direction. The decision comes as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government faces increasingly palpable economic pressures at home. Rising living costs, energy prices, and the need to maintain fiscal stability are becoming issues closer to voters than a war unfolding in Eastern Europe. Domestic politics is beginning to play a major role. Meloni has also signalled that Italy is unlikely to utilise the European Union’s SAFE programme, a scheme offering cheap loans of up to 14.9 billion euros to support defence spending by member states. Yet some factions within the government support such a move. Crosetto himself is known to be a proponent of using the SAFE facility. However, before parliament, he stressed that the final decision rests with the finance ministry, not the defence ministry. This means the debate in Rome is far from over. Meanwhile, pressure from Washington is intensifying. Earlier this week, Crosetto flew to the United States and met US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Following the meeting, Hegseth reiterated the need for NATO countries to increase defence spending and expand their military industrial capacity.