(The Guardian) Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s three-time former prime minister, has triggered a row after defending the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine.
The 85-year-old billionaire, whose party is forecast to return to government after the general election on Sunday, told Italian TV that Putin – an old friend of his – was pushed to invade Ukraine by the Russian people and by ministers who wanted Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration replaced with “decent people”.
Berlusconi, who has condemned the war, told the chatshow Porta a Porta that separatists had gone to Moscow and told the media that Ukraine’s attacks had caused 16,000 deaths and that Putin was doing nothing to defend them. Berlusconi said: Putin was pushed by the Russian population, by his party and by his ministers to invent this special operation. The troops were supposed to enter, reach Kyiv within a week, replace Zelenskiy’s government with decent people and then leave. Instead they found resistance, which was then fed by arms of all kinds from the west.
www.theguardian.com
The 85-year-old billionaire, whose party is forecast to return to government after the general election on Sunday, told Italian TV that Putin – an old friend of his – was pushed to invade Ukraine by the Russian people and by ministers who wanted Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration replaced with “decent people”.
Berlusconi, who has condemned the war, told the chatshow Porta a Porta that separatists had gone to Moscow and told the media that Ukraine’s attacks had caused 16,000 deaths and that Putin was doing nothing to defend them. Berlusconi said: Putin was pushed by the Russian population, by his party and by his ministers to invent this special operation. The troops were supposed to enter, reach Kyiv within a week, replace Zelenskiy’s government with decent people and then leave. Instead they found resistance, which was then fed by arms of all kinds from the west.
Berlusconi claims Russians ‘pushed’ Putin into Ukraine war
Italian former PM’s party is part of coalition expected to win Sunday’s general election
www.theguardian.com
