Could Berlusconi end the war in Ukraine?

Silvio Berlusconi believes that he alone can entice his old friend Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and intends to give it a go before Christmas. The 86-year-old media tycoon and former Italian prime minister wants a peace deal, mediated by him, to be his political swansong. His private jet is already on standby.

Internationally, the timing could not be better. Russia has suffered another military humiliation by abandoning the key city of Kherson and the Biden administration is reportedly telling Volodymyr Zelensky to think seriously about peace. Vittorio Sgarbi, Berlusconi’s confidant and now undersecretary for culture in Giorgia Meloni’s new government, has told me that Berlusconi thinks of himself as the only possible broker.

‘Berlusconi loves the beau geste,’ he said. ‘And this is the gesture he has in mind. He believes that he can pull it off, and if he does, without undermining Nato’s position, he will enter the history books as a global hero.’

Last month, Berlusconi’s Forza Italia was part of the right-wing coalition that formed Italy’s new government led by Meloni, who robustly supports the Ukrainian cause. She is about to authorise the country’s sixth package of support and told a Nato summit last week that she fully defends the country’s right to ‘territorial integrity, sovereignty and freedom’.

The difficulty for her is that even though her party, Brothers of Italy, received more votes than any other at September’s general election, her Ukrainian policy is opposed by most Italians. Just 43 per cent support Ukraine (one of the lowest levels in Europe) and fewer still want to arm it. Only 42 per cent agree with the EU’s sanctions on Russia and only a quarter think Nato should continue to send arms.

Most Italians want Zelensky to agree a compromise with Putin.