Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was caught on audio bragging that he reconnected with Russian President Vladimir Putin and had recently exchanged boozy gifts and “sweet letters” with the Kremlin warmonger.

“I have got back in touch a bit with Putin, quite a lot, in the sense that for my birthday he sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter,” Berlusconi told his lower house lawmakers, according to a recording that was released Tuesday by the Italian news agency LaPresse.

“I answered him with some bottles of Lambrusco (sparkling wine) and an equally sweet letter,” said Berlusconi, who celebrated his 86th birthday on Sept. 29.

He added that he was “very, very, very” worried about the situation in Ukraine but could not offer his true opinion because “if it gets in the press, there’ll be a disaster,” according to the recording reviewed by The Post.

Berlusconi had been known to gush about his friendship with Putin until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and sparked outrage last month when he said Putin had been pushed into the war and wanted to put “decent people” in charge of Kyiv in place of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Later he backtracked, saying his words had been “oversimplified.”

Following the audio leak, a spokesperson for Berlusconi’s party, Forza Italia, denied that the politician was back in touch with Putin, claiming that he had been telling his parliamentarians “an old story referring to an episode many years ago.”

Forza Italia later issued a statement saying the position of Berlusconi and the party on the war was “in line with the position of Europe and the United States,” and there was “no room for ambiguity and there never has been.”

Berlusconi’s comments came as Italy’s far-right leader Giorgia Meloni is putting together a proposed cabinet before an expected mandate to form a government following a major win in last month’s national elections.

Berlusconi’s center-right party has its eye on the foreign ministry, at a time when Meloni, who is poised to become the next prime minister, and the European Union have strongly backed Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Following the release of the recording, European Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali reminded Berlusconi that Russia “illegitimately” invaded Ukraine and noted that EU policy calls on member states to scale down contacts with Moscow “to the necessary minimum.”

“The priority of these contacts should of course convey EU positions regarding the illegitimate invasion and aggression against Ukraine and call on Russian counterparts to stop it immediately and comply with international law,” she said.

Vodka imports from Russia are banned, but Massrali said she would inquire whether that ban also applies to gifts.

In the recording, Berlusconi also seemed to defend Moscow’s position in the war, relaying to his lawmakers that Russian officials have repeatedly said the West is at war with Russia “because we’re giving Ukraine weapons and financing.”