Italy will send Ukraine a second Samp-T air defense battery to protect the population, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

“We have provided Kyiv with military, civil, and financial aid without reservations, and we are now preparing to send the second Samp-T battery to protect the Ukrainian population,” the Foreign Ministry's press service quoted Tajani as saying on Monday.

In addition, the minister expressed hope that by the end of the year it will be possible to organize a "serious peace conference" on Ukraine.