Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni told Russian pranksters posing as African diplomats that there is "a lot of fatigue" over the war in Ukraine.
In a 13-minute recording released by pranksters “Vova and Lexus”, Ms Meloni claimed that Kyiv’s counteroffensive “didn’t change the destiny of the conflict” and that the time is approaching when Europe will “need a way out".
The Italian PM believed she was speaking to senior African Union officials in the call on 18 September, a day before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but her office later admitted that she “had been deceived”.
They also confirmed the authenticity of the audio published by Vova and Lexus, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, on Wednesday.
During the interview, Ms Meloni said: “Everybody understands that [the war in Ukraine] really could last many years if we don’t try to find some solutions.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that Europe remained ‘in unity’ against Russia— (EPA)
Speaking in English, she added: “I see that there is a lot of fatigue, I have to say the truth, from all the sides.
“We (are) near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.
“The problem is to find a way out which can be acceptable for both without destroying the international law.
“I have got some ideas about how to manage this situation, but I am waiting for the right moment to put on the table these ideas that I have got.”
Mr Kuznetsov and Mr Stolyarov are prominent in Russia and have pranked numerous world leaders, including Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2020.
During their phone call with Mr Trudeau, they voiced climate activist Greta Thunberg, using her to needle the Canadian PM on leaving Nato.
“Leave Nato. Drop your weapons. Pick flowers. Smile at nature,” the fake Ms Thunberg said.
Mr Trudeau responded: “I also dream of a world in which soldiers are not necessary, but we don’t live in that world yet, unfortunately.”
The Russians later asked the Canadian PM to introduce them to characters from the cartoon South Park, at which point Mr Trudeau hung up.
Sir Elton John, Ben Wallace and the Duke of Sussex have also been tricked into giving up controversial opinions in phone conversations.
Sir Elton John was tricked by Vova and Lexus in 2016 into thinking he was speaking to Vladimir Putin about gay rights— (Richard Young/Shutterstock)
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, without mentioning the audio clip of Ms Meloni, said in his nightly address on Wednesday that Europe was a continent of “cooperation, not disagreements”.
“We value our Europe, the Europe of cooperation, not confrontation, the Europe of people, not ideologies, because only in this way can our continent protect and defend human lives both in European countries and in the world,” he said.
“I am confident that Ukraine will make our Europe stronger than ever, and we are working actively to remove any obstacles to our accession to the European Union.
“I am also confident that no matter how events unfold in the world, among our partners in the United States and elsewhere, unity will prevail. Unity, not division. Unity, not calls for isolation.”
Mikhail Podolyak, an advisor to Mr Zelensky, suggested in a statement to X, formerly Twitter, that European fatigue, and its apparent resultant willingness to negotiate a ceasefire, was “absolute propaganda fiction promoted only by authoritarian regimes similar to the Russian one”.
