Who is responsible for the war in Ukraine? According to former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, not Vladimir Putin but Volodymyr Zelensky.
“All [Zelenskyy] Attacking the two autonomous republics of Donbass had to stop and that would not have happened, ”Berlusconi told Italian media on Sunday evening after voting in the Lombardy regional elections, which are scheduled first major political test for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition.
“I judge this gentleman’s behavior very, very negatively,” Berlusconi said.
He said the war could end if US President Joe Biden threatened to stop sending military and financial aid to Ukraine and asked Zelensky to order a ceasefire in exchange for a “six, seven, eight, nine billion dollar Marshall Plan”. Said for Rebuild the country.
Berlusconi, who was prime minister for close to a decade, is now a senator and heads the conservative Forza Italia, a junior member of the governing coalition.
The 86-year-old has described Putin as one of his closest friendsand was one of the few Western politicians at the Kremlin’s year-end greeting list,
In an interview with public broadcaster Rai last SeptemberBerlusconi said the plan behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was for Russian troops to enter “in a week”. replace Zelensky’s government With the government of civilized people.
In a statement released just an hour after Berlusconi’s comments, the Italian government reaffirmed its “firm and resolute” support for Ukraine, according to the Italian Telegraph. Ansa,
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani – a member of Forza Italia and a close ally of Berlusconi – later said Twitter His party “has always stood for the independence of Ukraine, on behalf of Europe, NATO and the West.”
asked about melonie’s condition rained down on france As for not inviting him to dinner with Zelensky in Paris, Berlusconi said he would “never go there to talk to Zelensky” if he was in office.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Zelensky’s office, responded to Berlusconi’s comments by saying the former Italian PM is a “VIP agitator who operates within the framework of Russian propaganda, trading Italy’s reputation for its friendship with Putin”. According to ANSA, his words are harmful to Italy.
Elena Giordano contributed reporting.
This story has been updated.