Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti has declared country's readiness to send weapons to the Iraqi Kurds fighting against militants of the Islamic state.

Italy may send Kurds light weapons and ammunition, she said speaking in the parliament.

Pinotti also noted the need for coordination between countries to avoid sending the same types of weapons in unnecessarily large quantities.

Defense Minister also stressed the need to check whether that aid has been transferred to the Iraqi government, and that weapons were used solely for the purpose of self-defense, Russian service of BBC reported.

Earlier, Germany also declared its readiness to help the Kurds in Iraq.