Zakharova called the publication of Lavrov's interview in Italy an attempt to "save face"

A number of Italian publications, which nevertheless decided to publish an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, are probably trying to "save the face" of the country and emphasize its democratic attitude. This was announced on November 17 by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, at a round table in the Federation Council.

"To date, two national Italian publications, two print newspapers, have published this interview in its entirety. I do not know if this is saving the face of Italy. I do not exclude this, that this was done in order to demonstrate in the international arena that Italy itself is just a democratic country," RIA Novosti quoted her as saying.

The diplomat also noted that many online publications published interviews and advertised the material. According to her, this is due to the fact that the interview of the Russian minister is of "great interest."

"They make money from it. We understand that they have really reached an impasse," Zakharova stressed.

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Earlier, on October 14, the Italian newspaper La Verità posted the full version of Lavrov's interview, which had not previously been published by Corriere della Sera. In an editorial comment, La Verità noted that readers should have the opportunity to get acquainted with acute positions in order to independently form an assessment of what is happening.

Prior to that, on November 13, Zakharova said that Corriere della Sera had censored Lavrov's interview out of fear of discussing the problem of neo-Nazism in the modern world. According to her, the diplomat personally prepared several pages of answers to the questions of the newspaper's journalists, having received them from Italy. Subsequently, some "games" began, which, according to Lavrov, surprised the newspaper's correspondents themselves.

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