On Monday morning Mykhailo Podolyak, the top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, sent to Republic a very harsh comment on the words pronounced on Sunday by Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi on the war in Ukraine. Speaking of the invasion of Ukraine, Berlusconi had essentially placed the blame on Zelensky, saying that «it was enough that [Zelensky] stopped attacking the two autonomous republics of Donbass and this would not have happened”.
Podolyak defined Berlusconi as “a VIP agitator who acts within the framework of Russian propaganda” and “trades Italy’s reputation for his friendship with Putin”. He also said that the former Italian prime minister has yet to understand that the “republics of Donbass” “never existed” and that “in the spring of 2014, during the first phase of the Russian invasion, the occupiers created an enclave criminal on the Ukrainian territory of Donbass. Absolutely illegal.” Finally, he added that «nobody attacked the Russian Federation. In February 2022 they launched a large-scale invasion with the intention of occupying the entire territory of another country and killing as many Ukrainian citizens as possible. So Berlusconi must stop disguising his true desire for him and publicly declare that he is in favor of the genocide of the Ukrainians ».
Berlusconi’s words on Sunday did not come as a big surprise: in recent months he had repeatedly commented on the war in Ukraine with false reconstructions and controversial interpretations, and demonstrating closeness and even affection for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He had already created several embarrassments in the government led by Giorgia Meloni, who is instead convinced of Italy’s support for Ukraine. The government therefore hastened to deny Berlusconi’s words on Sunday evening, expressing its proximity to Ukraine and once again condemning Russia.
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