Crosetto and Zakharova clash over Fedorov’s role as defence adviser: ‘Italia decides for itself’

Tensions are rising between Rome and Moscow after Russia described the appointment of the former Ukrainian minister Fedorov as an adviser to the Italian Ministry of Defence. “I understand that they would prefer decisions for Italia to be made by someone who listens to Moscow first,” commented Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, “but for now that is not yet the case, and decisions are being made with Rome in mind, not Moscow, Kyiv or Washington.”

The minister was thus responding to the comments made by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, who had in fact described the appointment made by the Italian Ministry of Defence as “highly ridiculous”. ‘But there is one positive aspect,’ added Crosetto, ‘if (the spokeswoman) has read Rodari – which I doubt – she will have realised that we do not want to end up like the mouse that ate the cats, and so practical experience is also needed. But I doubt that she – or our compatriots, whom she sought to rouse with her message – would be willing to accept this, because it would portray us as weak and defenceless.”

This morning, on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (VEF), and as reported by the Russian news agency TASS, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Maria Zakharova, described Crosetto’s appointment as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘worthy of a satire by Gianni Rodari’. “If Gianni Rodari were alive,” added Zakharova, “I think he would write a satirical fairy tale about it, but I’m not sure it would be any funnier than this true story.”

According to the spokeswoman, the incident “is said to be an example of how the ‘managers’ in Kyiv turn military defeats into personal international contracts”.

Fedorov recently announced that he had become an adviser to Crosetto, explaining that his role would be to contribute to the development, on the Italian side, of ‘modern warfare technologies’.