Silvio Berlusconi has claimed that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, triggering a fresh political row and threatening the stability of Italy’s new government just days before it is expected to take power.
Berlusconi, the three-time former prime minister and leader of Forza Italia party – a junior partner in a far-right coalition that won September’s general election – is at the centre of political turmoil after a series of leaked audio recordings in which he says that he has reconnected with Vladimir Putin and blames Zelenskiy for causing Moscow to invade.
In the latest clip published by the La Presse agency on Wednesday, Berlusconi can be heard defending his “old friend” Putin, and saying that Zelenskiy provoked Moscow’s invasion by “tripling the attacks” against the Russian-backed separatists in Donbas.
“The Republics of the Donbas eventually sent a delegation to Moscow and told Putin: ‘Please, defend us!’,” Berlusconi said. “Putin was against any initiative but he was under a big pressure from the Russian people and so he invented this special operation: the plan was that his troops had to enter Ukraine, overthrow Zelenskiy and replace him with a government formed by a Ukrainian minority, formed by honest, sensible people.’’
Berlusconi added that when the Russian military invaded Ukraine, they were “faced with a situation Putin could not have predicted, of resistance from the Ukrainians who started receiving money and weapons from the west. And the special operation became a 200-year war.”
The former PM, who was previously recorded as saying he was one of the Russian leader’s top five friends, said he can’t see how Putin and Zelenskiy can sit at a negotiating table.
“Because there’s no possible way. Zelenskiy, in my view … forget about it, I can’t say,” the recording went on.
“There are no real leaders in the West”, continued Berlusconi. “I can make you smile, the only true leader is me.”
In a previous extract published on Tuesday, Berlusconi said Putin sent him 20 bottles of vodka for his 86th birthday after the pair “re-established” relations.
The remarks have sparked a row in the right-wing coalition led by Giorgia Meloni, which is due to be sworn into government next week. Meloni, who has promised to continue Italy’s support of Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia over the invasion, gave Berlusconi an ultimatum to either support Nato’s stance against Russia or else not join her nascent government.
After the recordings were released, opposition leaders met President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday, and expressed concerns over Italy’s future.
“Italy must be a trustworthy country, and this implies that we have an obligation to continue to condemn Russia and support Ukraine,” said the leader of the Democratic party, Enrico Letta. “This is why I consider Berlusconi’s words to be extremely grievous, and why I told Mattarella that they constitute a serious offence to the dependability of our country.”
“While signor Berlusconi is under the effects of Russian vodka in the company of ‘five of Putin’s friends’ in Europe, Giorgia Meloni shows what are true principles and an understanding of global challenges,” tweeted Zelenskiy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.
Forza Italia (FI) coordinator Antonio Tajani said on Thursday that the party and its leader Silvio Berlusconi were firmly behind Nato and opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, during the European People’s party (EPP) summit before a meeting of the European Council.
“I’m here to confirm, once again, the position of my party, my personal position and the position of the leader of my party totally in favour of Nato and transatlantic relations, in favour of Europe, and against the unacceptable Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Tajani said.
