Overview
- Vladimir Solovyov, a pro-Kremlin TV host, insulted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Italian during his Rossiya 1 program, prompting Italy’s foreign minister to summon Russia’s ambassador on Tuesday.
- The ambassador, Alexey Paramonov, was received at the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday and said the embassy dissociated from Solovyov’s remarks.
- Solovyov offered no apology and followed up with new posts that portrayed Meloni as a fascist and a supporter of “Nazis in Kyiv.”
- Italian leaders across parties condemned the insults, as President Sergio Mattarella and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky sent messages of support to the prime minister.
- The episode extends a pattern of Russian pressure on Italy since 2022, with media surrogates and officials like Maria Zakharova attacking Rome over its support for Ukraine and a proposed drone-production partnership.