Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman
Maria Zakharova has said that Italian President Sergio
Mattarella's comments at the University of Marseilles earlier
this month comparing Moscow to Nazi Germany over its invasion of
Ukraine will not go "without consequences".
"During a lecture at an educational institution, he said he
believed that Russia could be equated with the Third Reich,"
Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted Zakharova as saying on
Russian State TV.
"This cannot, and will never, be left without consequences".
Zakharova also blasted Mattarella's speech last week, saying it
featured "blasphemous inventions".
Sources at the president's office said in response that the
Mattarella was absolutely serene and called on people to read
the text of his speech.
Premier Giorgia Meloni said the attacks on Mattarella "offend
the whole nation, which the Head of State represents.
"I express my full solidarity, as well as that of the entire
Government, to President Mattarella, who has always firmly
supported the condemnation of the aggression perpetrated against
Ukraine", the prime minister said in a statement.
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