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'Deeply disappointed': Italy's Berlusconi breaks silence over friend Putin

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
'Deeply disappointed': Italy's Berlusconi breaks silence over friend Putin
Silvio Berlusconi addresses a Forza Italia rally in Rome on March 9, 2022. Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday spoke out over the Ukraine invasion, saying he was "deeply disappointed and saddened" by the behaviour of his old friend Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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"I cannot and I do not want to hide that I am deeply disappointed by the behaviour of Vladimir Putin," Berlusconi told a public meeting of his right-wing Forza Italia party in Rome.

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"I've known him about twenty years and he always seemed to me to be a democrat and a man of peace," the 85-year-old billionaire said.

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Berlusconi, who served as head of the Italian government three times between 1994 and 2011, had previously refrained from publicly criticising Putin.

When he was in power, Berlusconi maintained friendly personal ties with the Russian president, going so far as to invite him on vacation to his luxurious villa in Sardinia.

Italia media said Berlusconi's words marked "the end of a 20-year friendship".

Silvio Berlusconi, who was Italy’s prime minister at the time, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin around his Sardinia estate in August 2003. Photo by PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / ITAR-TASS / AFP

"Faced with the horror of the massacres of civilians in Bucha and other places, real war crimes, Russia can not deny its responsibilities," he said on Saturday.

His party forms part of the broad coalition supporting the government led by Mario Draghi.

Though several of the parties in Draghi’s coalition government have close ties with Russia, from Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party to Matteo Salvini’s far-right League and the once anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), all have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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There was initial concern following Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Italy would hold back from enforcing tough sanctions on Moscow due to longstanding relationships between Italian political powers and the Kremlin.

The two countries’ ties date back to the Cold War. But things changed in 2021, when Prime Minister Mario Draghi took office with a strongly pro-European, pro-NATO stance.

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