At least 58 percent of Italians do not support the decisions of western governments to send weapons to Ukraine, according to a poll published on Saturday by an Italian newspaper.
The respondents fear, in particular, that "Germany's decision to send Leopard tanks - and on the whole continuous sending of weapons to Kiev" may lead to an escalation of the conflict with the possibility of direct involvement of NATO. Only 33.9 percent of the respondents support the sending of weapons.
At least 68.5 percent are against the entry of NATO into the conflict in Ukraine and only 16.2 percent are in favor.
According to the survey, almost every third respondent (32.5 percent) believes that a ceasefire agreement will be reached with Russia, and these solutions will be imposed on Ukraine. About 24.9 percent believe that military assistance to Kiev will be gradually reduced.
The poll was conducted by the research company Euromedia Research on 24 January and is a scientific and statistical study based on anonymous statements.
The German government previously announced that it had decided to transfer German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Germany intends to form two tank battalions. At the first stage, they plan to provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 type A6 from Bundeswehr inventories.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February 2022 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. Western nations have imposed a number of sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weaponry for Ukraine will be a legitimate target for Russia.