File Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Silvio Berlusconi at an airport in Rome, Italy, July 4, 2019. (Sputnik/Alexey Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS)
Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi told lawmakers that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin into an endless war, according to an audio obtained by an Italian newswire.
The recording sheds further light on the pressures to soften Italy’s stance toward Russia in the rightwing coalition that won elections on September 25. Its publication follows that of another audio, apparently from the same meeting with lawmakers, where Berlusconi recounted how he had revived ties with Putin.
The remarks come while right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni is struggling to agree on cabinet posts with Berlusconi and other allies. She has vowed not to change Italy’s pro-Ukraine stance and said she supports sending weapons and aid to Ukraine.
In a statement on Wednesday commenting on Berlusconi’s remarks, Meloni said she won’t accept any ambiguity on foreign policy if she becomes Prime Minister.
In the audio, which was published by the LaPresse newswire on Wednesday, Berlusconi, 86, can be heard saying that Putin did not want to go to war but was pushed to do so because of Ukraine’s continued attacks against Russian-backed separatists in Donbas.
After his election, Zelenskiy "tripled the attacks” against the breakaway republics, according to Berlusconi, and Putin intervened to replace him with a government "already formed by a Ukrainian minority, formed by honest, sensible people.”
"He entered Ukraine and found a situation he could not have predicted, of resistance from the Ukrainians who started receiving money and arms from the West on day three,” Berlusconi said. "So instead of being a two-week operation the war became a 200-year plus struggle.”
In the first audio, published on Tuesday, Berlusconi had expressed concern about Italy’s aid to Ukraine and said Putin sent him vodka and a letter for his birthday. On the same day, in remarks broadcast on national television, Chamber of Deputies speaker Lorenzo Fontana, known for his pro-Putin views, said sanctions against Russia could "boomerang.”
On Tuesday, Berlusconi’s party Forza Italia had denied that he had renewed contact with Putin and said his position with respect to Ukraine was "in line” with that of Europe and the United States.
