Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi once again accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi of starting a full-scale war unleashed by Russia.
It is reported Reuters.
The 86-year-old Italian politician said that if he were prime minister, he would “never go” to talk to Zelenskyi. He explained it as “the destruction of his country and the killing of its military and civilians.” Repeating Russian propaganda, Berlusconi said that “if Zelensky had stopped the attack on L/DPR, the war would not have happened.”
“Therefore, I have a very, very negative assessment of this gentleman’s behavior,” said the ex-Prime Minister of Italy.
He called on the US to “put pressure” on Zelenskyi and threatened to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, and in exchange for an “immediate ceasefire” he promised a “large-scale aid program.”
After Berlusconi’s scandalous statements, his fellow party member, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Antonio Tajani, stated in Forza Italia that “it has always stood for the independence of Ukraine, on the side of Europe, NATO and the West.” Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney’s office emphasized that the Italian government’s support for Ukraine is “firm and convincing, as clearly stated in the program and confirmed by all parliamentary votes of the majority supporting the executive power.”
Earlier, LaPresse reported and released an audio recording in which Berlusconi blamed Zelenskyi, who, according to him, “tripled the attacks” on the L/DNR terrorist organization, for the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Before that, Berlusconi openly made a number of scandalous statements. In particular, that Putin was “pushed by the Russians” into the war, and he wanted to imprison “decent people” in Kyiv. At the same time, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Berlusconi admitted that he was wrong about Putin.
