Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose party is part of Giorgia Meloni's government coalition, launched a full-scale attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday February 12, immediately drawing the wrath of the Prime Minister.
Asked about the Thursday meeting in Brussels between Giorgia Meloni and Volodymyr Zelensky, he replied: “
Me talking with Zelensky?
If I had been President of the Council, I would never have gone there
”.
He then explained his motives: "
It was enough for him (Volodymyr Zelensky) to stop attacking the two autonomous republics of Donbass and all this would not have happened, therefore I judge the behavior of this gentleman very, very negatively",
said he said when he had just voted for the regional elections in Lombardy.
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Silvio Berlusconi, 86, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin when he was in power, is not his first controversial statement on the conflict in Ukraine, even if he has been quieter since the victory in the September elections for the coalition bringing together his Forza Italia party, Matteo Salvini's League and Georgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia formation.
In September, Silvio Berlusconi had caused an uproar by believing that Vladimir Putin had been “
pushed
” by his population and the pro-Russian forces of Donbass to invade Ukraine.
On Sunday, his new pro-Russian statements had barely made the front page of news sites when the government issued a statement to reaffirm Italy's "
firm support
" for Ukraine.
"
The support of the Italian government for Ukraine is firm and convinced, as clearly foreseen in the program and as confirmed by all the parliamentary votes of the majority supporting the executive
," he said.
Georgia Meloni, who met one-on-one Thursday in Brussels with Volodymyr Zelensky, discussed with him an upcoming visit to Kiev, “
being organized
”.
The left opposition, through the voice of the senator of the Democratic Party (PD) Dario Parrini has also stepped up to criticize the "
umpteenth pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine statements by Berlusconi
".
“
We are an absolute anomaly: neither Germany, nor France, nor Spain or Portugal have political leaders in their government majority with such delusional positions
,” he lamented on Facebook.