International media and NATO circles are up in arms because of admissions by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about “fatigue” over the Ukraine war, and a lack of support for Italy in dealing with migration, in a phone call with famous Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus.
There are unclear circumstances around the half-hour long phone call, in which one of the Russians posed as the head of the African Union Commission—including the fact that Meloni, strangely, did recognize the strong Russian accent of her interlocutor—and that the conversation was published only now, despite the fact that it occurred on Sept. 18. Being under both enemy and friendly fire for what she said, Meloni’s aides are now trying to blame it all on an intelligence operation.
Asked about Russia’s war in Ukraine, Meloni said: “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.. international law,” she added. She said that she has some “good ideas” but is waiting for the opportune moment to come out.
Addressing Italy’s position as a first port of call for many migrants crossing the Mediterranean, Meloni lamented that international partners were not doing enough to help. She complained that France’s Macron does not understand, and that EU leaders will not even pick up the phone when she calls them. She says that France has “other interests” in Africa, such as uranium, Françafrique, etc.
The two Russian pranksters then tried to box Meloni in on the issue of Ukrainian Nazis, mentioning Stepan Bandera. Meloni first ducked the issue, then answered that “that is what Ukrainians should do” and that “nationalism is Putin’s problem.” For this, she was publicly scolded by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
According to Bruxelles-based journalist David Carretta, “alarm bells rang in European capitals” when the Meloni interview was published by the two Russians on Nov. 1. “A very negative prank call,” a EU official told Carretta, who reported for the neocon daily Il Foglio. “A serious faux pas,” said another source.
Especially because of the way Meloni spoke, and the content of her comments on European leaders’ fatigue on Ukraine, on the possibility of a compromise with Russia, on France in Niger, and on the EU role in migration practices, it was denounced as a disaster. “It is a nice present to Putin,” a diplomat from a member state was quoted as saying. EU diplomats complained that Meloni did not use the usual “codified language” in speaking with a foreign representative. “What she said undermines the strength of NATO and will be used by Putin to show that the EU is ready to drop Ukraine and strike a compromise with Russia. Furthermore, Meloni’s statements can strengthen the anti-Ukrainian faction in the Republican camp in Congress that wants to block aid to Kiev.”
David Carretta is a hitman for EU/NATO circles. In 2019, he wrote for an Il Foglio article in which he alleged that LaRouche representatives were pro-Russian “souffleurs” for the Lega in the European Parliament, and lied that Lyndon LaRouche as an ally of the Ku Klux Klan.
