According to recordings made available by a news source, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday that he had lately exchanged “sweet letters” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and was back in touch with him.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Berlusconi, 86, media tycoon and former Italian Prime Minister, frequently bragged about his connection with Putin. Last month, he stirred up controversy by claiming that Putin had been forced into the conflict and intended to install “good people” in Kyiv.
“I have got back in touch a bit with Putin, quite a lot, in the sense that for my birthday he sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter. I answered him with some bottles of Lambrusco (wine) and an equally sweet letter” said Berlusconi, whose birthday was on Sept. 29, according to the recording released by the news agency LaPresse, Berlusconi spoke to members of his lower house.
He continued by saying that although he was very concerned about the situation in Ukraine, he was unable to express it openly because “if it gets in the news there’ll be a tragedy.”
Berlusconi’s remarks come as he negotiates cabinet positions in a new government following Italy’s Sept. 25 election, which saw the rightist alliance led by Giorgia Meloni, who is set to be chosen prime minister next week, win.
A party official denied Berlusconi had reconnected with Putin, claiming he had been telling his lawmakers “an old anecdote pertaining to an incident many years ago.”
Image source: wikimedia
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