Berlusconi Latest to Criticize Zelensky, Media Irate Over Relationship With Putin
The Trends Journal has noted that the only way the Ukraine War will end is through negotiations. But Kyiv has said repeatedly that it will not negotiate with Russia as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin is in charge.
So here we are.
The mainstream media outlets in the West are in their own bubble and are competing to see who can prove the deepest hatred for Russia and Putin. They are so brainwashed by their government overlords that they cannot comprehend that that anyone has a different opinion about the war.
Take the “leaked” audio that has Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire former Italian prime minister, praising his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and criticizing Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
Berlusconi, the influential Italian, was addressing the Forza Italia party and said Putin sent him 20 bottles of vodka and “a very sweet letter” for his 86th birthday last month.
The Daily Beast’s headline was: “Putin Uses 20 Bottles of Vodka and a ‘Sweet’ Note to Rekindle Bromance With Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi.”
Diplomatic ties between world leaders is tantamount to a “bromance?”
The audio was leaked to La Presse and Berlusconi said he “reconnected a little bit with President Putin,” according to The New York Times. He said he returned the gesture by sending Putin bottles of Lambrusco and a letter.
Berlusconi blamed Zelensky for violating the Minsk agreement and said Kyiv killed up to 7,000 people in the disputed Donbas region during its years-long conflict with Russian separatists. He said Putin was urged to intervene. He said it was Putin’s hope to enter the country and leave after installing “sensible leaders.”
“Today unfortunately in the Western world there are no leaders, there are no leaders in Europe and in the United States of America,” he said. “I don’t tell things. I know that there are no real leaders. Can I make you smile? The only real leader is me.”
The EU is looking into whether Belusconi broke the law given that sanctions have been imposed. There’s also a theory that the former prime minister or allies intentionally leaked the audio to throw another wrench into Giorgia Meloni’s bid to form a government after winning the election for prime minister.
Meloni issued her own statement: “Italy, with its head high, is part of Europe and the Atlantic alliance. Whoever doesn’t agree with this cornerstone cannot be part of the government, at the cost of not having a government.”
Last month, The Trends Journal reported on Meloni’s largely expected win for prime minister, which was seen as a signal that the country could lurch away from the EU’s orbit on issues pertaining to Ukraine and trade. (See ”ITALY’S MELONI WINS BIG IN ELECTIONS, EU ISSUES WARNING.”)
Meloni must form a government by forming a coalition with what has been called a factitious alliance that includes Silvio Berlusconi, the former premier, and Salvini. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia boycotted the vote for La Russa in hopes to rattle Meloni.
France 24, citing an Italian newspaper, reported that Berlusconi’s effort left him wounded, but it could go either way. He may be “readying for a defeated peace, or for a war that would shake the right.”
The Associated Press noted that Berlusconi took a piece of stationary and wrote that Meloni was “presumptuous, bossy, arrogant, offensive, and ridiculous.” He positioned the paper where photographers could easily capture the message.
Meloni told local media that Berlusconi was missing another key point in his list: that she cannot be blackmailed.
Salvini attempted to play mediator in the growing rift between Berlusconi and Meloni and issued a statement saying that he was sure “harmony” between the two will return. One of the underlying issues between the two is that Berlusconi is an advocate for the EU.
We noted in May that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the former president of Brazil, also seemed as though he was not a fan of Zelensky in an interview. He mocked Zelensky as a camera hog who failed to negotiate for peace.
“I see the president of Ukraine, speaking on television, being applauded, getting a standing ovation by all the parliamentarians. This guy is as responsible as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin for the war,” he told Time magazine.
Lula’s interview was wide ranging and he pointed to diplomatic shortcomings in the lead up to the war. He said the United States had the political clout to avoid the war, but instead incited it.
“Biden could have taken a plane to Moscow to talk to Putin. This is the kind of attitude you expect from a leader,” he said.
He continued, “In the same way the Americans persuaded the Russians not to put missiles in Cuba in 1961, Biden could have said, ‘We’re going to speak a bit more. We don't want Ukraine in NATO, full stop.’ That's not a concession.”
TRENDPOST: Gerald Celente has noted that there is zero talk of peace anywhere in the mainstream press because of the overwhelming propaganda. Russian President Vladimir Putin must be defeated and Ukraine must have access to an unlimited supply of weapons, no matter the cost is the only message allowed.
Celente, who founded Occupy Peace in 2014, held a major Peace and Freedom Rally last month, calling for an end to the bloody, destructive Ukraine War.
But the movement has been blacklisted from the Western media and has not received a penny from billionaires or millionaires. (See the substack article here.)
Celente said Ukraine should negotiate for a peaceful resolution, promise it will not join NATO and abide by the Minsk agreement that it had signed with Russia.