Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi allegedly said he is back in touch with the Russian President and has received letters and gifts from him Wladimir Putin on his birthday.
What happened: Berlusconi, who often boasted about his relationship with Putin before he invaded Ukraine, said the president sent him bottles of vodka and a sweet letter Reuters reports citing audio published by an Italian news outlet LaPresse.
“I got back in touch with Putin a bit, quite a bit, in the sense that he sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter for my birthday,” Berlusconi told his MPs in the House of Commons.
“I replied to him with some bottles of Lambrusco (wine) and an equally sweet letter,” said Berlusconi, whose birthday was September 29.
Berlusconi’s remarks earlier last month caused a stir when he said Putin had been pushed into the war and wanted “decent people” responsible for Ukraine. However, Berlusconi now said he was concerned about the situation in Ukraine but could not express his real opinion because “if it gets in the press, there will be a disaster”.
In a statement from his party Forza Italy later said that the position of Berlusconi and the party on the war was “in line with the position of Europe and the United States” and that there was “no room for ambiguity and there never has been”.
Berlusconi is currently negotiating cabinet posts in a new government lead by Giorgia Meloni, who is to be appointed Prime Minister next week.
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