It appears Bunga-Bunga boy still has something to offer the international elite. After a lengthy meeting with Germany's Angela Merkel (at a hotel in Milan) where *Putin warned of "big transit risks" in delivery of Europe's gas as Ukraine is "starting to siphon off our gas from the export pipeline," and threatening to respond by "reducing flows by the amount stolen;"* Putin decided the place to be was 78-year-old Berlusconi's house at 3am. Finally, it is worth noting that Ukraine's President *Poroshenko was scheduled to meet with Frau Merkel this morning* - we assume to plead his case for why gas transit should flow through his nation (and beg for some more support).As Bloomberg reports,
Russian President Vladimir Putin flew into Milan last night for peace talks with European Union leaders after threatening to cut the supply of natural gas through Ukraine if the government in Kiev diverts fuel for domestic use.
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*“There are big transit risks,” Putin, who denies involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, said yesterday in Belgrade, Serbia. If Russia sees its Ukrainian partners “are starting to siphon off our gas from the export pipeline network, we will respond by reducing flows by the amount stolen.”*
And then, as WSJ reports,
*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.*
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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.
President Putin, 62, must have felt the need to relax after his meeting with Ms. Merkel at 1.36 a.m. CET on Friday. He drove off with a large police escort, which included dark limousines, to Mr. Berlusconi’s house and *stayed there until roughly 3 a.m.*
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Strange Liaisons indeed... Reported by Zero Hedge 21 hours ago.