Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former prime minister, has reconnected with his friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, eight months after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Berlusconi, who has recently reentered politics, said he’s been in contact with Putin recently, with the Russian leader calling him “the first of his five real friends,” according to NBC News.
“I reconnected with President Putin — a little bit, well a lot,” Berlusconi said during a conversation with lawmakers. “For my birthday he sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter.”
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In response to the birthday present, Berlusconi sent Putin bottles of the Italian wine Lambrusco “and a letter just as sweet.”
The former leader’s comments come as Italy’s conservative coalition, led by recently elected Giorgia Meloni, is trying to decide who will make up the coalition’s Cabinet. During her election campaign, Meloni strongly backed Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Berlusconi has a history of defending his longtime friend Putin, as he seemed to justify Russia’s invasion by claiming that Putin was forced to invade Ukraine due to pro-Moscow separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine. In 2014, he hosted Putin at his Sardinian villa and also visited Crimea with Putin, the same year the Russian leader annexed the peninsula from Ukraine.
“The troops were supposed to enter, reach Kyiv within a week, replace (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky’s government with decent people, and then leave,” Berlusconi said on Sept. 22 during an appearance on a late-night talk show.
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The former leader has since backtracked on his comments made during the interview, claiming that his words had been “oversimplified.”
