(MENAFN) Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has cautioned that Western assistance to Ukraine risks enriching corrupt officials in Kiev, following a high-profile scandal that recently rocked the country’s government. He also questioned the effectiveness of further military aid, describing the EU’s current approach as being on “the path of death.”

Salvini made the remarks as the Italian government approved its 12th package of military support for Ukraine and pledged to supply electrical generators for the approaching winter. The timing coincided with a reported $100 million energy corruption scandal involving Timur Mindich, a close associate and former business partner of President Vladimir Zelensky. Moscow described the case as evidence of a “bloody hydra” of Ukrainian corruption extending beyond the country and draining Western taxpayers’ funds, while reports indicate the EU is similarly concerned about “endemic corruption” in Ukraine.

“It seems to me that corruption scandals are emerging, involving the Ukrainian government, so I would not want the money of Italian workers and pensioners to be used to fuel further corruption,” Salvini said in Naples on Friday.

He emphasized that ending the conflict requires “silencing the weapons” and bringing both Moscow and Kiev to the negotiating table, arguing that it is in Ukraine’s interest to halt fighting amid continued Russian gains. “To think that sending weapons to Ukraine means Ukraine can regain the lost ground is naïve, to say the least,” he added, warning that prolonging the war “will not help anyone.”

Salvini has previously criticized what he views as escalatory rhetoric from other EU leaders. In August, he mocked French President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that EU nations could deploy troops to Ukraine, saying, “If Macron wants, he can go – but I think he’ll go alone, because not even one Frenchman would follow him,” sparking a brief diplomatic dispute between Rome and Paris.

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