ROME—Italian Silvio Berlusconi was charged via Ukraine about “kissing Putin’s bloody hand” after Prime Minister three times and bunga bunga octogenary said he would never meet President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he blamed for the Russian invasion of his country.
Berlusconi, who has a very poor record of doing the right thing, made the remarks Sunday night at a polling station for regional elections in northern Italy. “All [Zelensky] what must be done is to stop attacking the two autonomous republics of the Donbas and this is not going to happen,” said Berlusconi — a position in direct conflict with the coalition government of Italy under Giorgia Meloni, of which he was a member. key stakeholders. “I rate this gentleman’s behavior very, very negatively.”
Kyiv was quick to respond, as Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook: “Berlusconi’s nonsense accusations against Zelensky are an attempt to kiss Putin’s bloody hand. An attempt to demonstrate his allegiance to the Russian dictator.”
Meloni, who was snubbed at a state dinner with Ukraine’s president hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron last week, has steadfastly supported Ukraine, despite Berlusconi and her other coalition partner Matteo Salvini. has a soft stance towards Putin. Salvini was photographed with a Putin T-shirt standing in Red Square, and few will forget Berlusconi’s “Putin bed” scandal when an escort captured him directing her to the pleated bed. white that he said his friend Vlad gave him.
The comments opened a widening rift in Italy over continued support for Kyiv. “An invasion of Ukraine would bring the war closer, not further,” Meloni told reporters in Brussels last week. “Whoever helps Ukraine works for peace.”
But some figures on the right are calling for a vote on continued Italian military aid, seemingly hoping to harness the anti-Zelensky energy introduced by Berlusconi. And some on the left, including socialist senator Enrico Borghi, say the rift will lead to a vote of confidence to test whether Meloni’s four-month-old government remains in place. whole or not. “Berlusconi’s pro-Putin and anti-Zelensky statements are the reason for great disagreement among the majority on such a fundamental issue as aid to Ukraine,” Borghi said on Monday. “These positions isolate Italy and weaken the Western Front.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, a top Zelensky adviser, called Berlusconi a “VIP agitator who operates within the framework of Russian propaganda, trading Italy’s reputation for friendship with Putin.”
“His words are damaging Italy,” Podolyak said in an interview with Republic. “Take off your mask and say publicly that you support the genocide of the Ukrainian people.”
