Putin Pays A Late-Night Visit To Berlusconi In Milan -- Wall Street Journal
ROME–They say old friendships, as well as old habits, never die.
Russian President Vladimir Putin perhaps couldn’t resist an invite from his Italian chum, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, in the early hours of Friday to his mansion in Milan.
President Putin met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for nearly 2 1/2 hours at a hotel in the historic center of Milan to discuss top issues such as Russian natural-gas deliveries to Ukraine, the conflict in the Eastern European country, as well as the disappointing implementation of the cease-fire agreement there.
A Russian presidential spokesman said Mr. Putin visited “his old friend” Mr. Berlusconi following an invite from the Italian politician. Mr. Berlusconi heads Italy’s biggest opposition party.
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My Comment: Three stories about how close Russian President Putin is to former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi that has always stuck in my brain (and one of them is personal). One .... George Clooney was invited to Berlusconi's home, and while there he was surprised to learn that Berlusconi's bed was a gift from Putin (when do guys give other guys a bed as a gift?). Two .... a former U.S. ambassador to Russia (I cannot remember his name) told the story on how he was having an incredibly important meeting with Putin, but when Putin was told that Berlusconi was on the line .... he told the ambassador he had to go and rushed out of the room before anyone had a chance to even say good bye. Putin never runs after anyone .... never .... unless there is a big reason why. Third .... a few years ago I went to a hockey game near Moscow to see my cousin play a scrimmage game against a team from the Russian foreign office.... and who was sitting two rows down from me .... Berlusconi. And while watching the game .... I noticed that one of the players was Putin.
These guys are very tight .... and this is probably the reason why .... WikiLeaks cables: Berlusconi 'profited from secret deals' with Putin (The Guardian).
Update: My cousin's team lost 4 - 2, and to this day he believes that there were three ringers (i.e. professional hockey players) on Putin's team. If I was on my cousin's team I would have deliberately body checked Putin, but (sadly) body-checking was not permitted in this game.
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