Former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi was recorded in a speech, although Berlusconi stressed from the outset not to reveal the content of his speech.
According to the exposed private recording, Berlusconi said that in Minsk in 2014, Ukraine signed a non-attack peace agreement with the two newly formed "republics of Donbas". But Ukraine violated the agreement a year later by attacking the border of the two republics.
Referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Berlusconi said he had nothing to say. He believes that Zelensky dragged Putin into an endless war. If Zelensky now says that the Ukrainian army will no longer attack, everything will be over.
Berlusconi believes that the conflict in Ukraine needs strong intervention to end, but there are no real leaders in Europe and the United States right now. And he said, "Can I make you laugh? The only real leader is me. This statement earned him applause.
Berlusconi's statement is clearly inclined to Russia.
First of all, neither European nor American countries recognize the two "republics" of Luton, and in the Western narrative, there are no two "republics", but Berlusconi speaks of one republic at a time, which is obviously based on the Russian narrative.
Secondly, Berlusconi blamed Ukraine for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. This is also contrary to the position of Western countries, which agree that Russia "invaded" Ukraine.
Again, Berlusconi asked Zelensky to order a stop to attack, and now that the four places have completed the referendum on joining Russia, Zelensky ordered to stop the attack at this time, which is equivalent to abandoning the four regions that were publicly invested in Russia. This ending is certainly unacceptable for Ukraine.
So Berlusconi is speaking out exclusively for Russia. But this stance is not surprising, as Berosconi is pro-Russian himself, and he has a very good relationship with Putin, and it is natural to speak to Russia.
If Berlusconi is just a former prime minister, it is fine and has little impact when said in the current context, but the key point is that Berlusconi's identity is not simple.
Looking back, Berlusconi was Italy's longest-serving prime minister after World War II, serving as Italy's leader four times in total, and his influence spread across politics, business, and sports. Looking forward, Berlusconi will return to the peak of power in Italy in the form of a coalition.
In previous Italian elections, Italy's center-right coalition won, and Berlusconi's Italian Forward Party (Power Party), which is a member of the governing coalition, although it does not have the same vote as the fraternal party, can also get a small piece of the pie. If Berlusconi wanted to, he could still be a minister in an important area.
In other words, Berlusconi is able to influence Italian foreign policy.
This is the main reason why European and American countries are hostile to the Italian center-right alliance, Berlusconi represents not only himself, but the leaders of fraternal parties are also pro-Russian, and as long as the center-right alliance succeeds in forming a government, Italy's diplomatic direction will quickly turn to Russia.
With the relationship between Berlusconi and Putin, there will be no obstacles to communication between the two sides, and Berlusconi can even become a "special envoy" for Russian-Italian relations, after all, he himself said that Putin is the most important of his five true friends.
Italy is a major EU country, especially after Brexit, and Italy wants to fill the gap in the UK and let the EU continue to operate as a troika. Whether it can be replaced or not, Italy's importance in the EU is self-evident.
Once Italy's position is tilted towards Russia, it will be very difficult for the EU to continue to stumble with Russia, and if it insists on breaking with Russia, it will eventually lead to the collapse of the EU.