KYIV. UkraineGate .19 . October . 2022 | War News .
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi again caused a resonance with comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin, which appeared on Tuesday .
Context
The LaPresse news agency released audio of Berlusconi’s secretly recorded speech to members of parliament from Forza Italia on Tuesday. In it, the 86-year-old politician says he has reconnected with Putin and says the Kremlin chief considers him one of “his five true friends.”
Details
Initially, Berlusconi’s proxies, including potential future foreign minister Antonio Tajani, dismissed the comments as “old stories”.
However, in the recording, Berlusconi directly says that Russian ministers say that the West is already at war with Russia because it “gives Ukraine weapons and money,” the publication notes.
On Tuesday night, Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, which as part of the right-wing coalition recently won the election, only said Berlusconi’s position on Ukraine still coincided with that of Europe and the United States.
Forza Italia is currently in talks to become a minority partner in a coalition led by Georgia Maloney’s far-right Brothers of Italy party and also includes the far-right populist League party.
There are concerns that Italy may no longer support Kyiv after the new government led by Meloni comes to power, the publication notes.
Days before Italy’s elections, Berlusconi, who had long been hesitant to condemn the invasion after the outbreak of war, said Putin was “forced” to invade Ukraine.
Enrico Letta, head of Italy’s Social Democrats (PD), warned in a tweet that comments should not be taken lightly.
“The new majority is in the process of a dangerous shift in Italy’s position on Russia towards ambiguity,” said Letta, a former prime minister.
Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called Berlusconi’s “honeymoon with Putin” and Forza Italia Senator Maurizio Gasparri’s proposal against abortion as moving in a direction that would “lead them to smash against a wall.”
Source: Ukrgate
