Berlusconi reveals he’s ‘reconnected’ with Putin and received a ‘sweet’ letter from Russian leader
The pair exchanged vodka and ‘sweet letters’
Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi has been caught boasting that he recently reconnected with Vladimir Putin after the pair exchanged gifts of vodka, wine and a “sweet” letter for the Russian leader’s recent birthday.
The former Italian premier revealed the inner details of his social calender to his centre-right Forza Italia MPs during a meeting this week in the lower Chamber of Deputies.
“I have reconnected with President Putin,” Italy’s LaPresse news agency reported the 86-year-old as saying.
“He sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a really sweet letter for my birthday. I responded with 20 bottles of Lambrusco and a similarly sweet letter.”
The comments made front-page news as Italy’s hard-right conservative coalition is delegating cabinet posts before formal consultations this week to form a new government.
They present a potential headache for countries in the West over sharing intelligence about the Ukraine war with Rome as Mr Berlsuconi’s party is expected to have seats in the new government being formed and was part of the winning coalition at the recent election.
The country’s recent elections were won by Giorgia Meloni, who has strongly backed Ukraine in Russia‘s war.
But in the audiotape, Mr Berlusconi seemed to defend Moscow’s position in the war, relaying to his lawmakers that Russian officials have repeatedly said the West is at war with Russia “because we’re giving Ukraine weapons and financing”.
It’s not the first time Mr Berlusconi has seemingly defended Mr Putin. Late in the campaign, he seemed to justify Russia‘s invasion by saying Mr Putin was forced into it by pro-Moscow separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
“The troops were supposed to enter, reach Kyiv within a week, replace [Ukrainian president Volodymyr] Zelensky’s government with decent people and then leave,” Mr Berlusconi told his favourite late-night talk show host in September. Later he backtracked, saying his words had been “oversimplified”.
Mr Berlusconi’s office similarly tried to deny his taped comments about the birthday vodka. In a statement on Tuesday, his office insisted that he hadn’t restarted relations with the Russian leader, and that Mr Berlusconi “told an old story to lawmakers about a episode that occurred years ago”.
Hours later, Forza Italia then tried to distance itself from the comments.
“The position of Forza Italia and president Silvio Berlusconi with respect to the Ukrainian conflict and Russian responsibilities is known to all and is in line with the position of Europe and the United States, reaffirmed on several public occasions,” the party said in a statement. “There are no margins of ambiguity, nor have there ever been.”
Mr Berlusconi and Mr Putin have been close friends in the past, with the Italian once describing the Russian as being like a younger brother.
In 2015, he claimed Mr Putin was “undoubtedly the number one among world leaders”.
However, earlier this year, the ex-Italian leader said he was “deeply disappointed and saddened” by Mr Putin’s actions.
Mr Berlusconi latest comments are likely to complicate relations with Ms Meloni, who is expected to become Italy’s next premier.
Despite her far-right politics, Ms Meloni so far been unwavering in her support of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.
A change in attitude towards Russia driven by Mr Berlusconi would be a complete U-turn from Italy’s previous isolation towards Mr Putin, with the previous prime minister Mario Draghi being a staunch supporter of Western sanctions against Moscow.
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