Diplomatic tensions between Italy and Russia escalated sharply this week after Rome summoned Moscow’s top envoy to formally protest a series of vicious, unprovoked insults directed at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by a prominent Russian state television host, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed Tuesday.
The incident unfolded when pro-Kremlin presenter Vladimir Solovyov launched a brutal personal attack against Meloni live on air, switching between Italian and Russian to deliver his remarks. In Italian, Solovyov labeled Meloni a “disgrace to the human race”, a “wild beast”, a “certified idiot” and a “nasty little woman”. He continued his tirade after switching to Russian, claiming the Italian leader was a “fascist creature” who had betrayed her own voters and even former U.S. President Donald Trump, a claim that echoes longstanding misinformation pushed by Russian state media about European leaders.
In a public post to social platform X, Tajani announced he had called Russian Ambassador Alexey Paramonov to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deliver a formal démarche over what he described as the “extremely serious and offensive remarks.” In a rare show of cross-partisan unity, even Italian opposition parties joined the government in condemning Solovyov’s aggressive comments, highlighting how the attack united Italian political factions against the external provocation.
Meloni herself responded to the incident publicly, pushing back against the verbal assault and reaffirming her government’s policy commitments. “These caricatures certainly won’t make us change course,” she wrote on X. “Our compass remains one and only: the interest of Italy. And we will continue to follow it with pride, much to the chagrin of propagandists far and wide.”
The diplomatic clash comes amid months of already strained relations between Rome and Moscow, driven by Meloni’s unwavering, staunch support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invasion. The incident also follows a recent shift in Meloni’s relationship with Donald Trump: the two once shared friendly ties, but relations have soured after Meloni defended the Vatican against verbal attacks from the former U.S. president.