Berlusconi, Putin meet in Crimea

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi rubbed shoulders with Russian president Vladimir Putin at a Crimean war memorial.

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Yalta - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi rubbed shoulders with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Crimea, the most prominent Western politician to visit the Black Sea peninsula since Moscow annexed it from Ukraine last year.

Western visitors have been rare since the annexation, which drove relations between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War era and prompted the United States and the European Union to slap economic sanctions on Russia. Russia's takeover is not internationally recognised.

Putin and Berlusconi, known for enjoying a good personal relationship, laid flowers at a monument commemorating soldiers fallen in a 19th century war over Crimea. They included troops of the Kingdom of Sardinia, part of modern-day Italy.

Short footage run by Russia's state TV broadcaster showed Putin telling Berlusconi he wanted the establish the exact names of the Italian soldiers and imprint them on the memorial.

Moscow played up a visit by several French parliamentarians to Crimea this summer in striving to secure wider international recognition of its de facto control of the peninsula.

But other than that, the once-popular holiday destination has been left with mainly Russian visitors since the March 2014 annexation, which followed the ousting of a Moscow-allied president by mass street protests in Ukraine.

The scandal-prone Berlusconi was Italy's premier on four occasions and was ousted finally in 2011 in the midst of the euro zone financial crisis. He now commands a party largely in disarray and falling in the polls.

Reuters