The leader of the sovereignist League party, Matteo Salvini, defended himself on Wednesday June 1 in the face of press leaks reporting on his meetings not authorized by the Italian government with Russian representatives since the invasion of Ukraine.
Read alsoItaly: Matteo Salvini increasingly challenged
“
You have to work with the ambassadors and governments of many countries to achieve peace
,” explained Matteo Salvini, whose party is a member of the government coalition led by Mario Draghi, on his Twitter account.
Matteo Salvini dined on March 1 with the Russian ambassador to Italy, Sergei Razov, only a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the daily Domani, which specifies that the Russian embassy in Rome has confirmed the meeting and that the two men met three more times.
The security committee of the Italian Parliament, the Copasir, has opened a preliminary investigation into these interviews, which were apparently conducted without the knowledge of Mario Draghi, a firm supporter of sanctions against Moscow.
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A four-point peace plan
Matteo Salvini has long had close ties with Moscow.
He has in the past posed proudly in T-shirts bearing the likeness of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He was reportedly accompanied in his interviews by Antonio Capuano, an informal foreign policy adviser who claims to be a lawyer with experience in diplomacy.
Antonio Capuano claims to have wanted to help Matteo Salvini organize a visit to Moscow in order to unveil a four-point peace plan, in an interview Wednesday with the daily Il Corriere della Sera.
“
The Russians understood that Salvini wanted to go all the way
” for peace, “
and they invited him to take other steps
”.
Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday that he had not planned to meet Vladimir Putin on this trip to Moscow, but was in contact with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
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According to the daily Domani, Mario Draghi and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio knew nothing of the meetings between Matteo Salvini and Sergei Razov, nor of the planned trip to Moscow.
Questioned, the services of Matteo Draghi did not respond on this point.
Asked by journalists about Matteo Salvini's activities, Mario Draghi said on Tuesday that it was important for relations with Russia to be "
transparent
".
This affair has offended heavyweights within the League itself.
"
We must act in concert with the government
", reacted Giancarlo Giorgetti, key figure of the party and Minister of Economic Development.
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