Russian President Vladimir Putin was "pushed" into war with Ukraine, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said, Reuters reported.

Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party belongs to a right-wing coalition, is expected to win Sunday's general election.

"Putin was pushed by the Russian people, by his party, by his ministers to come up with this special operation," Berlusconi told Italian public television RAI late on Thursday, using the official Russian wording for the war.

Under Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Italy has been a staunch supporter of Western sanctions against Russia.

Giorgia Meloni of the far-right Brothers of Italy, considered the next prime minister, has pledged to stick to this position, but Berlusconi and her other ally Matteo Salvini are more ambivalent.

According to him, Russia's plan was originally to conquer Kyiv "in a week", and replace the democratically elected Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy with "a government of decent people" and get out "in another week."