Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi argued on Friday that the EU should support peace and try to persuade Ukraine to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands for an end to the war.
“It is imperative that we reach peace as soon as possible, otherwise disasters and massacres will continue. I hope Europe unites to put together a peace proposal for Putin and the Ukrainians Putin’s demands are accepted by the Ukrainians, “Berlusconi said. For newspapers in Naples, southern Italy.
The leader of the Conservative Forza Italia party said that the EU’s sanctions on Moscow “caused a lot of damage to the Soviet economy” because “gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 14%”, but also to European countries. Asked if the EU should ban Russian gas purchases, Berlusconi said it was “a surprising hypothesis, leading to the closure of hundreds of thousands of companies, the loss of 3 million jobs and the expansion of poverty in Italy.”
Finally, he argued it The outcome of the conflict in Ukraine included “bringing Putin to the negotiating table and not releasing statements.” Asked from “Britain, NATO, etc.”, which, in the opinion of businessmen and politicians, increases tensions.
Silvio Berlusconi had already stated this during his party rally on May 16 in Trevikli. Italy “engaged in war by sending arms to Ukraine”. The Berlusconi family belongs to the Mediaset group, which on May 1 published its first interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a European media outlet.
The interview was criticized by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi because Lavrov was able to issue statements without being questioned by the press and compared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Gelensky to Adolf Hitler for his “Hebrew appearance”.
