Rome, Jan 26 (.) The EU must stop sending military aid to Ukraine if it wants to stop the war with Russia, an Italian lawmaker said, and urged the bloc to stop arms supplies to Kyiv, following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, stating that his remarks showed a lack of appreciation for Europe’s support.
Alleging disrespect for Brussels from Kyiv, Rossano Sasso, a member of Italy’s right-wing Lega Nord party, reacted sharply post Zelensky’s Thursday speech in Davos, where he criticised the EU as an indecisive bloc, and said that it “needs to know how to defend itself rather than relying on the United States.”
Furthermore, Zelensky neither explicitly referenced, nor showed any gratitude for, the roughly €193 billion ($227 billion) in military and financial assistance that the EU has provided Ukraine since the conflict with Russia took place in 2022.
Posting on X later that day, Sasso said the EU was now reaping what it had sown. “Everyone gets what they deserve. And the EU, after showering Zelensky and his friends with European money and bringing us to the brink of a world war, now deservedly accepts the insults,” he wrote.
“No more weapons. No more Italian money for a war that is not ours,” Sasso added, calling for an immediate end to military aid. If Europe truly wanted to help ordinary Ukrainians rather than, in his words, “prolong the war and enrich a few corrupt politicians,” he argued, Brussels should press Zelensky to accept peace talks.
The comments underscored growing unease in other parts of Europe over continued support for Kyiv, with Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani describing Zelensky’s Davos speech as “not generous,” given the scale of European assistance, and its economic ramifications on the continent.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck a more measured tone, saying Europe’s commitment should be judged by deeds rather than rhetoric.
“We know that we will never match the sacrifice of the Ukrainian people,” she said. “But what we can do is stand by their side — and the figures speak for themselves, as does the personal engagement of all of us.”
Russia has long condemned US and EU arms deliveries to Ukraine, insisting they will not change the outcome of the conflict but will only prolong the fighting and raise the risk of a direct confrontation between Moscow and NATO.
. . .