Silvio Berlusconi has claimed that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, triggering a fresh political row and threatening the stability of Italy’s new government just days before it is expected to take power.
Berlusconi, the three-time former prime minister and leader of Forza Italia party – a junior partner in a far-right coalition that won September’s general election – is at the centre of political turmoil after a series of leaked audio recordings in which he says that he has reconnected with Vladimir Putin and blames Zelenskiy for causing Moscow to invade.
