Italy May Soon Halt Further Aster Missiles to Ukraine, ANSA Says

The Italian news agency ANSA reported on Nov. 10 that the next classified military package for Ukraine may no longer deliver the air-defense interceptors Kyiv has been seeking.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto declined to disclose the contents of Rome’s 13th aid package. He said further stocks of Aster missiles, used in the Franco-Italian SAMP/T system already supplied to Ukraine, have to be weighed against Italy’s own needs.

Thinning Stocks, Not a Confirmed Halt

ANSA wrote that it is not to be excluded that Italy may soon, if not immediately, in effect suspend further Aster deliveries, as Germany has already done with Patriot interceptors.

The agency said the constraint is national security. Italy cannot run down its own reserves, it reported, while industry may not replenish them quickly. Of the Aster missiles, Crosetto said, “We have some to keep for ourselves.”

For days he has argued that the military threat has been “circumscribed” and that there is no availability for some of Kyiv’s requests, especially air defense. He added that Italian packages have diminished in scale, but “this does not mean support is ending.”

A Package Built Around Energy Repairs

ANSA said the next classified package may instead include components to keep the previously supplied SAMP/T battery operational, together with generators and spare parts to repair Ukrainian energy infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes.

Some Italian outlets have reported that a limited number of Aster missiles may still be included. Those accounts have not been confirmed. The package is classified, and Il Sole 24 Ore, citing the same reporting, said stocks earmarked for Ukraine were “reportedly exhausted.”

Italy had earlier been preparing a classified air-defense consignment built around Aster 30 interceptors.

The League’s Warning on 2027

A separate political dispute is running in parallel. After a Copasir briefing, Claudio Borghi of the League, speaking for Matteo Salvini’s line, said that if the government tried to pass a 2027 military-aid decree—“something I would advise against”—there would be political opposition mandated by the party’s congress.

Crosetto had already pledged to seek an extension of the decree-based aid framework into 2027. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was “no issue,” that Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti would sign the 13th package on his return to Rome, and that Italy’s position “will not change.” She described the League’s stance as “different sensitivities.”

Meloni has said her support for Ukraine may carry a political cost, but that she will not change course. Crosetto said there would be “no surprises” and that a 2027 decree would be presented if the majority wanted it. Until Dec. 31, he said, Italy can operate under the existing legal framework. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani added that “Italy’s support is guaranteed.”