Moscow accuses Mattarella of lies over nuclear threat

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 13 - Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday accused Italian President Sergio Mattarella of lying after his criticism of Moscow's "nuclear narrative" when he was in Hiroshima last weekend as part of a State visit to Japan.
    During a meeting with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, Mattarella said the Russian Federation had become "the promoter of a renewed and dangerous nuclear narrative, in addition to blocking the work of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, withdrawing from ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and threatening Ukraine, instilling the unacceptable idea that nuclear weapons can become an ordinary tool in conflict management as if they would not inevitably lead to total destruction. " Zakharova said this was untrue.
    "Italian President Sergio Mattarella's claims that Russia threatens Europe with nuclear weapons are lies and falsehoods," Zakharova was quoted as saying by Tass.
    Italian institutions and companies came under a series of cyberattacks by pro-Russian hackers after Mattarella recently compared Russia to the Third Reich in relation to its invasion of Ukraine.
    Zakharova had said those comments by Mattarella would not go "without consequences". (ANSA).