The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, has been the victim of deception by a Russian “imposter” who, posing as an African leader, extracted information from her by telephone about the European position on Ukraine and on immigration matters.
The Office of the Diplomatic Counselor of the Italian Presidency issued a statement today to regret having been “deceived by an imposter who had posed as the president of the African Union Commission.”
This subject, the note reads, was connected by telephone with Meloni on September 18, within the framework of the “intense effort” at that time to strengthen relations with African leaders before the United Nations General Assembly. The “hoax” was perpetrated by the Russian comedian couple Vovan and Lexus, who in the past did the same with other European politicians, and have published the conversation on their networks.
Firstly, Meloni is critical of the European management of the migration phenomenon. “Europe has long believed that it could solve the problem by leaving Italy alone. They do not understand that it is impossible because the magnitude of this phenomenon involves, in my opinion, not only the EU (European Union) but the United Nations,” he said. listen to Meloni say. And he adds: “But the problem is that the others are not interested. They have not answered the phone when I called them. They all agree that Italy has to solve this problem alone and that is a very stupid position.”
During an important part of the conversation, the supposed “African leader”, the impostor, asks the prime minister about the war in Ukraine after the Russian invasion and whether she foresees an end. “I see that many are tired. To tell the truth, we could be close to the moment when everyone will understand that we need a way out. The problem is finding a way out that is acceptable to both sides without destroying international law,” he believes.
Likewise, Meloni said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is proceeding but “it may not be going as expected” and “without changing the fate of the conflict.” “Everyone understands that this can really last for many years if we don’t find a solution. The problem is what is the acceptable solution for both without opening other conflicts… you know what I think about Libya,” he says.
The impostor also asks him what he thinks of the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism and its historical leader Stepan Bandera: “I think nationalism is a problem that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has,” he ends. The Russian “comedians” are Lexus, alias Alexei Stolyarov, and Vovan, Vladimir Krasnov, and in the past they deceived other politicians such as the president of Poland, Andrej Duda, posing as his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, or the former German chancellor. Angela Merkel.
