The controversial friendship between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi appears to have come to an end after more than two decades of reciprocal admiration, family holidays and shared political values.
Rumours that the relationship had been growing frosty were confirmed on Saturday at a Forza Italia convention in Rome when Berlusconi took to the stage and uttered Putin’s name for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
