In an article in the Corriere della Sera on August 16, Federico Rampini apologizes for having made a mistake, in the heat of the moment two years ago, in the summary on the responsibility for the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline: «My analysis of September 28, 2022 started well, applying the principle of “cui prodest” (who benefits) I pointed out that the most likely lead was the Ukrainian one (…) However, as my analysis continued (…) I also gave space to other theories, I added possible Russian leads, which were accredited by many Western sources».

I went back to reread the 2022 article, and I realized that the esteemed journalist had attributed to Putin’s supporters in Italy, not to himself, the hypothesis that the sabotage was more beneficial to NATO’s eastern flank than to Russia: «The logic of “cui prodest” has generated many acquittals of Putin, in Italian talk shows where sympathizers of the Russian autocrat abound».

Now the author claims that this was the most “plausible” version from the very beginning, which means that the opinion of Putin’s supporters in Italy has curiously turned out to be the most accurate. Rampini may have finally understood that describing the world as it is, not as we would like it to be, means being lovers of the truth, not followers of Vladimir Putin.

Rampini again in the article from the other day: “When informed of the submarine attack plan, the Biden Administration vetoed it. Zelensky promised to cancel the operation. Then, according to the version accepted today, he was unable to get the military to obey him, who in the meantime had trained the diving commando.”.

If this is the case, Rampini asks rhetorically, why does Putin refuse the truth? The journalist’s answer is merciless: “Because it doesn’t serve his narrative, that Ukraine is a miserable puppet nation, manipulated by NATO and America.”.

Yet, there is one clue against NATO’s majority shareholder: the press conference of February 7, 2022, during which Joe Biden declared that if Russia invaded Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 would come to a bad end (here). A reporter pointed out to the American President that the pipeline project was under German control, and how could he disable it? This was Biden’s response, followed by a sinister smile: “I promise you we will be able to do it.” That big potato Olaf Scholz, standing next to him, had no objection.

Rampini concludes his article on a note of optimism: “Lies have short legs in our democracies: sooner or later the attempts to hide the truth, the cover-ups, the maneuvers to mislead, are defeated by a free and independent press”.

This gives me hope: if Joe Biden’s preventive admission of responsibility had been inadvertently covered up, or temporarily sidetracked, or perhaps even distractedly concealed, the truth will soon come to light. All this will happen thanks to the transcendent force of our free and independent press, which has in Federico Rampini one of its most authoritative interpreters.