EPP Cancels Italy Event Following Berlusconi's Ukraine Comments

The European People's Party, the largest transnational political party in the European Union, has cancelled a political strategy event in Naples following comments from former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appearing to blame Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky for the war in Ukraine.

• Reuters: Berlusconi said that if Zelenskiy had stopped attacking the two separatist republics of the Donbass the war would not have happened. "So I judge, very, very negatively, the behaviour of this gentleman."
• EPP President Manfred Weber said in a statement in Twitter: "Following the remarks by Silvio Berlusconi on Ukraine we decided to cancel our study days in Naples. Support for Ukraine is not optional."
• Berlusconi responded to the EPP's decision, on Facebook: "With the world on the brink of a nuclear war between Russia and NATO countries, I get criticised because I ask that, together with the support for Ukraine… negotiations should be immediately launched to achieve peace."
• Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who plans to travel to Ukraine to mark the anniversary of Russia's invasion, distanced her government from Berlusconi's comments: “The [Italian] government’s support for Ukraine is solid and unwavering.”