Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi during a campaign rally ahead of the general election, in Milan, Italy, September 23, 2022. (REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo)
Rome: Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday underlined her government's "firm support" for Kyiv after former premier and coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Asked about the meeting on Thursday in Brussels between Meloni and Zelensky, Berlusconi replied: "Me talk to Zelensky? If I had been President of the Council, I would never have gone there.
"It was enough for him (Zelensky) to stop attacking the two autonomous republics of Donbas and all this would not have happened, therefore I judge this gentleman's behaviour very, very negatively," Berlusconi told journalists after voting in regional elections in Lombardy.
The 86-year-old tycoon, who boasted of being a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin when he was in power, leads the Forza Italia party, a partner in the coalition government led by far-right Meloni.
Berlusconi last September caused an uproar by suggesting that Putin had been "pushed" by his population and the pro-Russian forces of Donbas to invade Ukraine.
On Sunday, his latest pro-Russian statements swiftly drew a response from Meloni's government which issued a statement stressing its "support for Ukraine is firm and convinced".
Meloni met Zelensky for talks in Brussels on Thursday, discussing the possibility of a visit to Kyiv "being organised".
