Italy’s Far-right Coalition in Turmoil Over Berlusconi Ukraine Comments

By Staff, Agencies

Silvio Berlusconi said that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky 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 center of political turmoil after the series of leaked audio recordings in which he said that he has reconnected with Vladimir Putin and blames Zelensky 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 Zelensky provoked Moscow’s invasion by “tripling the attacks” against the Russian-backed separatists in Donbass.

“The Republics of the Donbass 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 Zelensky and replace him with a government formed by a Ukrainian minority, formed by honest, sensible people.’’

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 Zelensky can sit at a negotiating table.

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 operation, gave Berlusconi an ultimatum to either support NATO’s stance against Russia or else not join her nascent government.