“If we stop supporting Ukraine, we allow the invasion of Ukraine. I am not hypocritical enough to mistake an invasion with the word ‘peace,'” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a fiery 2023 speech.

This is from a leader who, when she rose to power in Italy, Western media branded as extreme right-wing. She had previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a defender of traditional values, so she was expected to take positions like many right-wing politicians across the continent. Politicians such as Marine Le Pen in France and Viktor Orban in Hungary, who have typically aligned themselves with Moscow. The Kremlin likely harbored hopes that Meloni would follow suit, adding Italy to its sympathetic European voices.