The popular Ukrainian leader will instead now send a written message to the annual music extravaganza after protests against his appearance at the fest, prime time entertainment chief at Rai TV, Stefano Coletta, said on Monday.
The message will be read out by host and organiser Amadeus, Coletta said.
He said Rai had been in constant touch with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk over the controversial appearance, which many Italian politicians said was inappropriate for a light entertainment event.
Other commentators said it risked trivialising the war against the Russian invasion.
But many others said they had no issue with giving the Ukrainian leader a platform to voice his gratitude to Italy for its aid during the Russian conflict.
Coletta said it would have been “complicated to censor the president”, who has appeared in other entertainment events on video link, such as last year’s Grammys in the United States.
“We are in daily contact with Ambassador Melnyk,” Coletta said.
“We arrived at the definition of the Ukrainian president’s speech yesterday: he will not send a video, but a text that will be read on stage by Amadeus.”
The highly anticipated Sanremo fest, perhaps Italy’s biggest entertainment show of the year, runs from Tuesday and concludes Saturday night.
ANSA
