ROME, April 21 (Reuters) - Italy has summoned the Russian ambassador to protest against insults directed at Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by a pro-Kremlin Russian television host, Rome’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“I had the Russian ambassador… summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express formal protests following the extremely serious and offensive statements made by the host Vladimir Solovyev on Russian television,” Antonio Tajani said on X.
In a one-minute segment, Solovyev swore in Italian, calling Meloni a “certified idiot” and worse.
In Russian he added: “Meloni is fascist scum who betrayed her voters, having campaigned on completely different slogans. Betrayal is her middle name: she also betrayed (U.S. President Donald) Trump, to whom she had previously sworn allegiance.”
Meloni leads a right-wing government that has provided military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, but her coalition includes the League party, which has had close ties with the Kremlin.
She has recently fallen out of favour with Trump, previously a close ally, distancing herself from the war with Iran and openly criticising the U.S president for lashing out at Pope Leo.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov, editing by Giulia Segreti and Gareth Jones)
