Italy summons Russian ambassador after pro-Kremlin TV host insults Meloni

Prefer on Google by Lucy Pakhnyuk Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a press conference on April 20, 2026 in Rome, Italy. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images) Italy has summoned Russia's ambassador to protest remarks by a pro-Kremlin television host who insulted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said April 21. "I had the Russian ambassador... summoned to the Ministry of ​Foreign Affairs to express formal protests ​following the extremely serious and offensive statements ⁠made by the host Vladimir Solovyev on ​Russian television," Tajani said on X. According to Italian media reports, Solovyov — a pro-Kremlin TV presenter and propagandist who is under Western sanctions for his overt support of Russia's war in Ukraine — delivered a series of insults about Meloni during a broadcast. Speaking in Italian, he allegedly called her a "disgrace to the human race," a "wild beast," a "certified idiot," and a "nasty little woman." Solovyov went on to describe Meloni as a "fascist creature" who had betrayed her voters and "even betrayed Trump," referring to tensions between the Italian leader and U.S. President Donald Trump. Meloni, once a close ally of Trump , has recently fallen out of favor with him after distancing herself from U.S. policy on Iran and publicly criticizing remarks he made about Pope Leo . Although Meloni leads a right-wing government that includes parties with ties to the Kremlin, Italy has supported Ukraine since the outbreak of the full-scale war, providing both military and civilian aid. She also recently hosted President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss continued cooperation between Rome and Kyiv.