Silvio Berlusconi visits war memorial in Crimea with Vladimir Putin

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Silvio Berlusconi visits war memorial in Crimea with Vladimir Putin

Italy’s former Prime Minister is now the most prominent Western politician to visit the Russian-annexed Crimea

LOULLA-MAE ELEFTHERIOU-SMITH



Monday 14 September 2015


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Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has become the most prominent Western politician to visit the Crimea since it became annexed by Russia when he joined Vladimir Putin on a trip to the area.

Berlusconi joined the President to lay flowers at a monument commemorating the soldiers who died during the 1853 - 1856 Crimean War, which included soldiers from the Kingdom of Sardinia, now part of modern-day Italy.

Reuters reports Russian state TV showed President Putin telling Berlusconi he wished to find out the names of the Italian soldiers involved in the war to have their names printed on the memorial.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visit the Khan's Palace in the town of Bakhchisarai, Crimea

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) visit the memorial to the soldiers from the Kingdom of Sardinia killed in the Crimean War in 19-th century, near Mount Gasfort outside Sevastopol, Crimea

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second right, and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, right, walk in St. Vladimir's Cathedral as they visit the ancient Greek colony of Chersonesus, major archaeological site in Crimea, outside Sevastopol, Crimea

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) examine the Khan's Palace, a former residence of the Crimean Khanate, while visiting the Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Preserve in Bakhchisaray, Crimea

Putin hugs a childThe pair then embarked on a two-day tour of Crimea, which included dinner at an open-air restaurant, where local residents gathered to meet the politicians. Putin was captured hugging children along the way.

Berlusconi has previously hosted Putin’s family at his villa on the Italian island of Sardinia, and the former Prime Minister is understood to have spent the past few days staying at the Russian resort of Sochi, where the 2014 Winter Olympics were held.

The West has condemned Russia for annexing the Ukrainian peninsula with the US and European nations formally discouraging its citizens from visiting Crimea.

READ MORE:
VLADIMIR PUTIN AND SILVIO BERLUSCONI ENJOY LATE NIGHT REUNION IN MILAN
PUTIN ACCUSED OF GIVING BERLUSCONI CUT FROM ENERGY DEALS
BERLUSCONI AND PUTIN IN TALKS ON NUCLEAR ENERGY

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...-with-vladimir-putin-10499892.html?icn=puff-6


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Ukraine Livid As Putin, Berlusconi Swig Crimea's Oldest Bottle Of Wine

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Italian former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visit archaeological excavations outside Sevastopol, Crimea, on September 12.




By Claire Bigg
September 17, 2015

When a scandal-prone Italian and a combative Russian get together on recently annexed territory, you might expect them to uncork a bit of controversy.

Less than a week after their demonstrative visit to Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stand accused of drinking one of the forcibly annexed peninsula's oldest surviving bottles of wine.

Crimean prosecutors now exiled in mainland Ukraine say the two leaders tasted a 240-year-old bottle of Spanish wine produced during the 18th-century reign of Catherine the Great and brought to Crimea by Count Mikhail Vorontsov.

The wine-loving count served as governor-general of Crimea for more than two decades in the early 19th century.

The Massandra winery that he established in Crimea, including his private wine collection, was taken over by Russia when it seized Crimea from Ukraine last year.

Prosecutors in Ukraine have now opened a criminal case over the incident involving Putin and Berlusconi, citing "large-scale misuse of property."

Russian newspaper Promyshlennie Vedomosti reports that Berlusconi asked whether he could taste the wine during a tour of the winery.

The newspaper, quoting a witness, says Massandra's new pro-Russian director, Yanina Pavlenko, then uncorked the precious bottle of 1775 Jeres de la Frontera for the high-ranking guests.

Prosecutors say the bottle was worth more than $90,000.

At the time of Crimea's annexation, the winery owned five bottles of Vorontsov's famous Jeres.

Two more bottles were sold at a Sotheby's auction in 1990 and 2001. The wine fetched $50,000 at the 2001 auction, which took place with the personal authorization of then-President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine.

In June 2014, the Massandra winery was placed on the list of EU sanctions after passing into Russian hands.


Ukraine Livid As Putin, Berlusconi Swig Crimea's Oldest Bottle Of Wine

comment section

by: orel from: Virginia
September 17, 2015 21:01

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Look at B's mug.....even Putin, who is no slouch himself when it comes to whoring, pandering and thieving seems to have a pained expression. Glad B and P are drinking buddies ....you can know each of them by the company they keep.



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[Poh SIti Dawn]

Im in Italy right now, theyre always hitting berlusconi with that ether. I might bookmark this and go show someone right now