Shortly before his re-election as League secretary on October 25, Matteo Salvini declared that a renewed mandate would allow him to block further weapons and financial aid to Ukraine. The Italian deputy prime minister's stance aligns with his long-standing admiration for Vladimir Putin, recalling a decade-old comment where he expressed willingness to trade "two Mattarellas for half a Putin." However, Salvini is not an isolated figure; if leaders like Putin, Donald Trump, and Xi Jinping were to strike a deal behind the backs of the EU and Kyiv, significant segments of the Italian population would likely support it.
This Russophilia cuts across the entire political spectrum, creating a phenomenon described as "rossobruni," or "red-browns," which unites opponents of liberal democracy from the far left to the far right. This sentiment is rooted in three major currents: nostalgia for the Italian Communist Party's historical ties to Moscow; lingering anti-Americanism among former voters of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI); and a strand of Catholic political culture that views consumerism with suspicion and opposes American imperialism. Even Pope Francis has recently echoed these sentiments, accusing NATO of "barking at Russia's door" and suggesting the conflict was provoked by Western aggression.
Within the governing coalition, Salvini's League remains the primary advocate for appeasement, arguing that sanctions are ineffective and that abandoning Russian gas harms Italy's economy without ending the war. Despite polling at only 6%, the party wields enough influence to delay Italy's approval of new military aid packages for Ukraine, a situation that has persisted for nearly a year despite Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's promises to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Opposition to Kyiv is equally strong outside the government. Roberto Vannacci, leader of the newly formed Futuro Nazionale party and a former special forces general, has become a vocal critic of Ukrainian resistance. Speaking in Strasbourg on October 21, Vannacci framed Zelensky's demands as blackmail, claiming the Ukrainian president threatened to send 20 million refugees into Europe unless given €70 billion. John Foreman, a British military attaché who served alongside Vannacci in Moscow, recalled that in January 2022, Vannacci refused to believe Russia would invade Ukraine, living in what Foreman described as a "parallel universe" fueled by admiration for a strong Russia.
The lack of sympathy for Ukraine extends to the left-wing opposition as well. The Five Star Movement (M5S), founded by comedian Beppe Grillo, has historically criticized NATO and praised Putin's foreign policy. In 2017, Grillo described dialogue between Trump and Putin as a "dream" for humanity, calling them strong statesmen. Today, the divide over Ukraine remains a major obstacle between the M5S and the Democratic Party (PD). Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has promised to halt arms supplies if his party wins, arguing that Ukraine is already well-armed and needs a peaceful resolution instead. Furthermore, Five Star lawmakers have voted to resume Russian gas purchases.
Conte's approach represents a return to his previous policy of equidistance toward Moscow, which included accepting a Russian medical mission during the 2020 pandemic. On March 22, 2020, 13 Ilyushin aircraft landed near Rome carrying 104 people, including 28 doctors and four nurses, though the majority of the delegation consisted of military personnel.
Sources: La Repubblica.