Berlusconi called his words about exchanging vodka and wine with Putin a joke

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he was joking when he told fellow party members that he had exchanged gifts of alcoholic drinks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the Adnkronos news agency, Berlusconi stated this in an interview for the book “La grande tempesta” (“The Great Storm”) by Italian journalist Bruno Vespa, which is being published on November 4.

Berlusconi claims that during a meeting with the MPs who won the election for his Forza Italia party, he said that he had exchanged birthday letters with Vladimir Putin. He says one of the MPs asked if they had exchanged gifts, to which Berlusconi replied: "Of course, 20 bottles of vodka and 20 bottles of Lambrusco." Everyone understood that he was joking, he says.

Earlier in October, the LaPresse agency released an audio recording in which Berlusconi told MPs that he had begun to restore relations with Putin, "even a little too much." "He sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very kind letter for my birthday. I responded with bottles of Lambrusco and the same letter. He called me the first of his five true friends," Berlusconi said at the time.

The Forza Italia party, after the publication of the audio recording, stated that the story with the bottles happened in 2008, but there is no indication in the recording itself that it happened then.

The European Commission previously admitted that Putin and Berlusconi could have violated sanctions when they exchanged vodka and sparkling wine.