Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova today condemned as "blasphemous inventions" the words of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who in a speech at the University of Marseille last week compared Russia to the Nazi Third Reich for its attack on Ukraine.

Zakharova said that the Italian head of state had "drawn outrageous and blatantly false historical parallels between the Russian Federation and, as he said, Nazi Germany, demanding that the failure of the Western policy of appeasement in the 1930s be taken into account in resolving the Ukrainian crisis."

Then, premising that such a thing "cannot even be uttered," the spokeswoman added: " It is strange to hear such blasphemous inventions from the president of Italy, a country that knows from direct experience what fascism is. Only, it knows it differently from our country . Our country was subjected to a monstrous attack by Hitler's Germany. Our country not only managed to expel the enemy from its territory, but also brought it back home, destroying it. And at the same time it liberated Europe from Nazism and fascism."

The spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy also claims that, for some reason, Mattarella did not remember which side his country was on during the Second World War and what "contribution" it gave to it. "He did not know, he does not know his history well? I do not think so," Zakharova then said. And concluded: "Mattarella should think about the fact that today Italy, together with other NATO countries, is pumping modern lethal weapons into the neo-Nazi terrorist regime in Kiev, thus unconditionally supporting the criminal regime in all its crimes."

The statements of Moscow's spokeswoman sparked immediate reactions, with bipartisan messages of solidarity arriving from the main exponents of Italian political forces and institutions.

"I find the statements made by the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova , inappropriate and out of place . I renew my esteem and express my personal and Senate closeness to the Head of State Sergio Mattarella, guardian of the values of the Republic and point of reference for the nation," wrote the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa , the second highest office of the State, on social media. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke of " offensive words from Moscow," recalling how Mattarella is recognized by all as an "authoritative man of peace."

And Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: "The words of the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Minister offend the entire Italian nation, which the Head of State represents. I express my full solidarity, as well as that of the entire Government, to President Mattarella, who has always firmly supported the condemnation of the aggression perpetrated against Ukraine".

From the Quirinale we learn instead that the president "is calm" and that he refers to a more careful reading of the text with the speech given in Marseille.

(Unioneonline/lf)

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