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Italy summoned Russian Ambassador Alexei Paramanov to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday after Russian state television host Vladimir Solovyov called Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a "fascist beast."
He used sexually degrading language toward her on air and accused her of betraying both her voters and U.S. President Trump.
Meloni responded on X, saying a "zealous regime propagandist cannot give lessons on consistency or freedom," and Italy's entire political spectrum, including opposition parties, united in condemnation.
In footage published by ANSA on April 21, Solovyov used the Italian word "putta," a vulgar sexual insult, and in Russian, called Meloni a "fascist beast who betrayed her voters" and "a disgrace to humanity."
He also said she was a "savage animal," a "certified idiot," and a "vile little woman," and accused her of betraying Trump, "to whom she had previously pledged her loyalty."
"Betrayal is her middle name. She betrayed Trump, to whom she had sworn loyalty," Solovyov said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned Ambassador Paramanov to the Foreign Ministry and announced the formal protest on X.
"I summoned Russian Ambassador Paramanov to the Foreign Ministry to express an official protest following the extremely serious and offensive statements by TV host Vladimir Solovyov on Russian television against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to whom I express my full solidarity and support," Tajani wrote.
Russian Ambassador Paramanov disputed the grounds for the summons.
"It would hardly be considered standard diplomatic practice to summon an ambassador over the words of a well-known Russian journalist, however talented and popular, spoken on his own private online channel," he added.
"No reasonable person would ever think of treating purely personal emotional private assessments by anyone as an official statement by any government," Paramanov said.
Meloni responded on X without naming Solovyov directly.
"By nature, a zealous regime propagandist cannot give lessons on consistency or freedom. But these caricatures will certainly not make us change course. Unlike others, we don't depend on anyone, we have no masters, and we accept no orders. We have only one reference point: Italy's interests. And we will follow it proudly, despite the protests of propagandists from around the world," she wrote.
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