Italian MPs demand explanation from Matteo Salvini over claims his party sought funding from Russia

Opposition politicians in Italy called for an explanation from Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, about reports that his party secretly sought financing from Moscow.

The hard-Right League, led by Mr Salvini, was in talks with Russian businessmen close to the Kremlin to secure funding through a petrolium export deal, according to Espresso, an Italian news magazine.

Under the arrangement, millions of euros’ worth of diesel was to be sold to an Italian company by a Russian firm “close to the Kremlin”, with the profits to be diverted to the League, the weekly claimed.

But the magazine conceded that it did not know whether the deal, allegedly intended to fund the League’s political campaign ahead of the European Parliament elections in May, was ever concluded.

Asked about the claims, a spokesman for The League told The Telegraph: “We don’t comment on science fiction and fantasies.”

The report prompted opposition MPs to demand an explanation from the party, which governs Italy in coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement.

“Russia is financing the League? The worrying report by Espresso needs to be immediately clarified by the government,” the centre-Left Democratic Party said in a statement.

“It is claimed that a Russian energy company sold supplies of petrol to an Italian firm with the objective of financing Salvini’s Europe campaign.

“This is not the first time that The League has been involved in embarrassing relations regarding its special rapport with Putin.”

Laura Boldrini, a former parliamentary speaker and a member of a small opposition party, LeU, wrote on Twitter: “Russian finances for the League’s electoral campaign – Salvini must clarify this immediately because if it is confirmed, it would be really concerning.”

Espresso claimed that the fuel supply deal was discussed by three Russian businessmen and their Italian contacts last October, when Mr Salvini visited Moscow.

The news magazine claimed to have documents to back up its allegations, but did not cite any details from them.

The weekly conceded: “We don’t know how the affair ended, whether the deal was signed or what its terms were.”

Mr Salvini is a fervent admirer of Vladimir Putin and has made several visits to Moscow. But he has strenuously denied receiving any funding from the Russians.

"I've never had a lira from Russia, or a matryoshka (a set of wooden dolls) or a fur hat," he said last year.

He has called for an end to Western sanctions against Moscow, saying they hurt Italian businesses which export goods to Russia.

During his visit last October, he said he felt more at home in Russia than many European countries.

That earned him a rebuke from Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament, who tweeted: “If Salvini feels so at home in Moscow in bed with Putin, why doesn’t he stay there? He’s betraying the collective European interest.”

Last June, as the Italian coalition was being sworn in, Mr Salvini said he had “a relationship of esteem” with President Putin.

“I believe he has done a lot for his people and with interventions against Islamist terrorism like the intervention in Syria: and I say that gratis, because I think so.”