ROME: The 20 bottles of vodka sent to Italy's Silvio Berlusconi as a birthday gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin breach European sanctions imposed after the Ukraine invasion, the European Commission said on Thursday.
Former PM Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is set to be a member of Italy's new coalition government, caused controversy this week when he said he was back in touch with Putin. "For my birthday he sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter," Berlusconi, who turned 86 last month, told his lawmakers, according to the audio issued by LaPresse.
An EU sanctions package in April extended an import ban for Russian goods to include spirits, including vodka. There was no exemption for gifts.
LaPresse on Wednesday published another recording, apparently from the same session, in which Berlusconi seemingly defended Putin's decision to try to oust the Ukrainian government. Berlusconi spoke disparagingly of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accused him of provoking the conflict. But thanks to "unexpected and unforeseen" Ukrainian resistance and funding and weapons from the West that arrived "on Day 3, a special operation that was supposed to have lasted two weeks has become a war that will last 200-plus years," Berlusconi said. He claimed there were no "true leaders" left in Europe or the US.
Italy's presumed next premier Giorgia Meloni issued a stark warning to Berlusconi on Wednesday that he risked losing influence in any new government over his friendship with Putin. "Italy will never be the weak link of the West with us in government," she said. "Italy, with its head high, is part of Europe and the (Nato) Atlantic alliance," she said. "Whoever doesn't agree with this cornerstone cannot be part of the government, at the cost of not having a government."
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