Overview
- The Biennale says it remains an open institution and rejects any form of exclusion or censorship, with president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco invoking a "cultural truce" and a "diplomacy of beauty."
- Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrij Sybiha and culture minister Tetjana Bereschna urged the organizers to reconsider allowing Russia back into the exhibition.
- Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the move, and the culture ministry said the foundation acted independently despite the government’s opposition.
- Lithuania’s foreign ministry condemned the decision as abhorrent.
- Twenty-six Members of the European Parliament, including vice-president Pina Picierno, sent an open letter to Buttafuoco calling for the reversal of the decision.