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With the demise of Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has misplaced one in every of his few remaining mates in Europe.
Putin’s long-standing friendship with the previous Italian prime minister was as controversial because it was essential to cementing ties between the 2 nations, which frequently made Rome one in every of Moscow’s strongest allies within the European Union.
Their glitzy, usually unusual bromance — through which Berlusconi as soon as offered Putin with present bedsheets emblazoned with a picture of the 2 males shaking palms — often raised eyebrows in diplomat circles.
The bedsheets had been apparently Berlusconi’s tongue-in-cheek response to revelations that Putin had as soon as given Berlusconi an ornate double-bed, which was described in one in every of Berlusconi’s many tanged authorized proceedings.
Based on proof, an escort who was paid to take part in Berlusconi’s recorded a dialog through which Berlusconi advised an escort to attend for him in a mattress, which the girl then described as “Putin’s.”
Some have speculated that Berlusconi, a billionaire, and Putin, a reputed billionaire, engaged in covert enterprise offers. Others pointed to the increasing Russian-Italian commerce relationship, notably in vitality,
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Linked by a shared boorish machismo, the 2 leaders had been seen often collectively: at excessive combating competitions in Russia, laughing at worldwide information conferences, and in full gear for snowboarding journeys alongside Putin’s sidekick, former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
The 2 had been additionally photographed ingesting at one in every of Putin’s residences in giant fur hats, and vacationing collectively in Sardinia. “Putin has by no means requested me for a single favor, and I’ve by no means requested a favor of him,” Berlusconi as soon as mentioned.
The friendship, which appeared to be primarily based on a mutual self-interest in addition to real affection, often courted scandal.
After Berlusconi resigned from workplace in 2011 amid a number of scandals, together with allegations that he paid for intercourse with an underage intercourse employee (a cost for which he was later acquitted), Putin rallied behind him claiming that his Italian buddy wouldn’t have confronted trial if he had been homosexual.
“Berlusconi is being tried as a result of he lives with ladies,” Putin advised an viewers at his annual Valdai convention with Russian and worldwide overseas coverage consultants in 2013. “If he had been gay, nobody would elevate a finger towards him.”
In 2015, Ukraine banned Berlusconi from the nation for 3 years after he went with Putin to go to Crimea, which Russia invaded and illegally annexed the 12 months earlier than.
And final fall — months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which turned Putin right into a pariah on the worldwide stage — a recording was leaked to the Italian media on which Berlusconi boasted that he had rekindled ties with Putin.
Berlusconi mentioned Putin had despatched him 20 bottles of vodka for his birthday and a “very pretty letter,” through which he claimed Putin had known as him “primary amongst his 5 finest mates.”
The incident reportedly brought on friction with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who has advocated sending weapons to Kyiv and described Russia’s invasion as an “unacceptable large-scale act of warfare by Putin’s Russia.”
In a tribute on Monday, Putin known as Berlusconi a pricey pal and an excellent politician.
“For me, Silvio was a pricey individual, a real pal,” Putin mentioned in an announcement. “I’ve at all times sincerely admired his knowledge, his skill to make balanced, far-sighted selections even in probably the most tough scenario.”
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