During Meloni’s visit to Kyiv
Selenskyj taunts Berlusconi
2/22/2023 1:24 am
Italy is on Ukraine’s side, the ultra-right Prime Minister Meloni assured during her visit to Kiev. Your coalition partners, however, raise doubts about this. The Ukrainian President Zelenskyy cannot resist side blows at the joint press conference.
During a visit to Kiev, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged her unreserved support for Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. “Italy has no intention of faltering,” said the far-right politician at a press conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He sharply criticized Meloni’s ally, Silvio Berlusconi, who had sowed doubts about the attitude of NATO member Italy with pro-Russian statements.
She came to “reaffirm Italy’s full support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” Meloni said. A defeat in Ukraine would be a “prelude” to a Russian invasion of other European countries, the president warned. She arrived in the Ukrainian capital by train on Tuesday morning, one day after US President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kiev. Before leaving Poland on Monday evening, Meloni spoke to Biden on the phone, the Italian government said. The two spoke accordingly about the close cooperation between Italy and the United States in supporting Ukraine, including on security, economic and humanitarian issues.
Meloni promises new weapons
Meloni had announced that he would travel to Ukraine ahead of the February 24th anniversary of the Russian invasion. Ukraine can count on Italy’s support, she said on the eve of her visit to Warsaw. She didn’t come empty-handed either. The Ukrainian agency reports that Meloni has promised Ukraine three weapon systems, including the Italian-French SAMP-T air defense system.
Meloni, who has been in office since October, has always taken a clear stance against Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. After ex-Prime Minister Berlusconi made critical statements about Zelensky, in mid-February she reaffirmed her government’s “firm” support for Ukraine. Berlusconi, whose right-wing party Forza Italia is part of Meloni’s far-right government, recently said that if he were still prime minister he would not seek a meeting with Zelensky. He sees Selenskyj as responsible for trying to find a ceasefire and ensuring peace. If he had his way, Ukraine would no longer receive weapons or money from Italy. For years, the ex-head of government had described himself as a friend of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
Berlusconi’s house “isn’t bombed with rockets every day,” Zelensky said. “And thank God his partner from Russia didn’t drive a tank into his yard and didn’t destroy his family and friends.” Selenskyj did not comment on Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini at the press conference. The head of the right-wing Lega has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Putin. In 2017 he even had himself photographed on Red Square in Moscow wearing a T-shirt with the Kremlin boss’s likeness.