Guest Post by Martin Armstrong
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has close ties to Vladimir Putin. Berlusconi, leader of the Forza Italia party, now serves as a junior partner under new PM Giorgia Meloni. Meloni fiercely supports Ukraine, but leaked audio indicates where Berlusconi stands.
“I can’t personally give my opinion because if it is told to the press it will turn out to be a disaster, but I am very, very, very worried. I rekindled relations with President Putin, a little bit. I knew him as a peaceful and sensible person,” the former PM said in a leaked audio recording. He also said in the recording that Russian ministers believe they are at war with the West because of the funding to Ukraine.