Overview
- The Russian Foreign Ministry told state agency TASS that Corriere della Sera declined to publish Sergey Lavrov’s written responses, calling the decision blatant censorship and citing Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Moscow said it posted two versions of the exchange online, including a full text and what it described as a Corriere-curated version that allegedly omitted passages unwelcome to Italy’s authorities.
- Corriere’s editorial direction said the ministry returned an extremely long text filled with accusations and propaganda, and that it declined repeated requests for a real, on-the-record interview with a contradicting exchange.
- The newspaper said it chose not to run any version of the submission and remains willing to interview Lavrov under standard independent-journalism practices.
- Italian political figures quoted by Corriere backed the decision, arguing the paper should not serve as a megaphone for Kremlin talking points on Ukraine.