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UKRAINE

Italy to send missile systems to Ukraine

Italy and France have together agreed to deliver mobile surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine, the French defence ministry said on Friday.

Italy to send missile systems to Ukraine
France has also promised to ship a radar system of the Ground Master 200 to Ukraine. Here employees assemble a Ground Master 200 (GM200) medium range radar at Thales' radar factory in Limours, on February 3rd, 2023. The missile system MAMBA, jointly developed by Italy and France, will be delivered to Ukraine in the Spring. Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

The systems, called MAMBA or SAMP/T, are a vehicle-mounted battery of medium-range missiles designed to offer protection from airborne threats such as missiles and manned or unmanned aircraft.

The missile systems, jointly developed by NATO members France and Italy, will help Ukraine “defend itself against Russian drones, missiles and aircraft”, the ministry said.

The deliveries were a response to an urgent request by Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov made to his French and Italian counterparts to assist with “the protection of civilian populations and infrastructure from Russian air attacks”, it said in a statement.

During a visit by Reznikov to Paris on Tuesday, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu had already announced that his country would ship 12 more Caesar truck-mounted howitzers and fresh air defence equipment to Ukraine.

France has yet to commit to sending Leclerc main battle tanks to Ukraine, another insistent request by Kyiv.

The MAMBA delivery had been under discussion for several weeks, and was finalised Friday in a phone call between Cornu and his Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto, the statement said.

The systems, similar to the American Patriot systems, are to be delivered in the spring, the French ministry said.

One MAMBA was last year deployed in Romania, a NATO member sharing a border with Ukraine. With its range of 100 kilometres (62 miles) “we can fight a wide range of airborne threats”, a member of the French military with experience of the system told AFP in December.

These include short-range ballistic missiles, fighter planes, helicopters, drones “and even salvos of cruise missiles with multiple warheads”.

France has also promised to ship a radar system of the Ground Master 200 type made by French defence contractor Thales to Ukraine.

The radar allows detection of enemy airborne forces at 250 kilometres, and fight them at 100 kilometres. The radar, which can be moved by truck, also detects mortar and artillery fire at launch, acting as an early warning system.

READ MORE: IN PICTURES: Thousands in Italy march for peace in Ukraine

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UKRAINE

Italian deputy PM Salvini calls France’s Macron ‘danger’ for Europe

Italy's deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, accused French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday of endangering Europe by refusing to rule out sending Western ground troops to Ukraine.

Italian deputy PM Salvini calls France's Macron 'danger' for Europe

The comments by Salvini, whose far-right League party is a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government, came during a gathering in Rome of right-wing and nationalist European leaders to rally support ahead of EU parliamentary elections in June.

Macron’s suggestion last month that Western ground troops could be sent to Ukraine was “extremely dangerous, excessive and out of balance,” Salvini told the event organised by the European Parliament’s Identity and Democracy political group.

“I think that President Macron, with his words, represents a danger for our country and our continent,” Salvini said during his speech, which largely stressed conservative family values.

“The problem isn’t mums and dads but the warmongers like Macron who talk about war as if there were no problem now,” he added.

“I don’t want to leave our children a continent ready to enter World War Three.”

READ ALSO: Macron says ground operations in Ukraine possible ‘at some point’

Portugal’s Andre Ventura, leader of Portugal’s far-right party Chega that surged in a general election earlier this month, also spoke at the event, as did Harald Vilimsky of the Freedom Party of Austria and former US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, among others.

France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen did not personally attend, instead sending a video message.

The outspoken Salvini, who serves as transport minister, is a hardline populist whose comments have often landed him in hot water.

Earlier this month, he responded to the Russian election result by saying: “When a people vote, they are always right”.

Following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last month, he said it was “up to Russian doctors and judges” to determine the cause.

Salvini has previously expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Macron’s comments last month in which he refused to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine prompted a stern response from Berlin and other European partners.

 
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