Draghi vows to keep supporting Ukraine amid coalition tensions

Italy’s biggest party is set to splinter over the country’s support for Ukraine, just as Prime Minister Mario Draghi defended in parliament his government’s stance on the conflict.
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio may soon quit the Five Star Movement and set up a new parliamentary group of his own, in a clash with party leader Giuseppe Conte, according to people familiar with the issue who declined to be named on a confidential matter. 
Di Maio, 35, favors Draghi’s plan to continue providing military support to Ukraine, while Conte is opposed. Di Maio would remain foreign minister even if he leaves Five Star, one of the people said.
"The Italian government, together with EU and G-7 partners, intends to continue to support Ukraine as this parliament has told us to do,” Draghi said in a speech to the Rome Senate ahead of the June 23-24 summit of European Union leaders in Brussels. "Sanctions are working, and are more and more effective,” he added. Group of Seven countries will meet in Germany this weekend.
Coalition Divisions
Draghi is seeking to patch up divisions that saw coalition parties argue for days over a non-binding resolution on continuing to support Ukraine militarily as it fights Russia’s invasion, in line with European Union and other Western allies. 
Parties failed to agree on a joint resolution to be voted in the Senate on Tuesday. But a vote of broad support for the government action is still expected to take place.
The survival of Draghi’s government is not at stake, as most lawmakers are expected to back him and he would not be forced to resign over the issue. But the stance taken by Five Star, the biggest force in parliament which has been plagued by infighting amid plunging voter support, is particularly significant.
Draghi made no mention of arms shipments in his speech. As he arrived at the Senate, Draghi only replied "we’ll see” when asked by reporters whether he is worried about the political situation, according to newswire Ansa.
Ex-premier Conte, 57, has opposed sending the military aid and his supporters want parliament to have a say on new weapons shipments to Ukraine. The government has so far decided on these without fresh backing from lawmakers. 
It’s unclear whether Conte will decide to stay in government, or consider joining the opposition in a bid to revive his party’s fortunes. The ex-premier is seeking to ride part of Italian public opinion, with about 45% of Italians against sending weapons to Ukraine, according to a poll by Rai1 state television at the end of May. 
The turmoil in Five Star is straining the unity of Draghi’s government, amid splits on how to deal with the impact of inflation on the cost of fuel, and on how to replace lower energy supplies from Russia.
Five Star suffered a blow in local elections earlier this month, winning only a handful of votes in key constituencies such as Genoa, the city of its founder Beppe Grillo, and Taranto, where it was the most-voted party in the 2018 general election with a green plan for the Ilva steel plant.