While there is an Italian name for Santa Claus — it is Babbo Natale, for Daddy Christmas — this year it could be switched out for another well-known name: Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian press has been abuzz over a report in London’s Spectator that Mr. Berlusconi may be poised to do what neither President Biden nor Pope Francis have been able to do thus far — chiefly, to end the war in Ukraine — and that the larger-than-life business mogul and political fixer could do it before Christmas. 

That may seem like an unlikely prospect, but the ace up the former premier’s sleeve is his improbable but longstanding friendship with the widely reviled Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Last month the 86-year-old Mr. Berlusconi said that Mr. Putin had sent him 20 bottles of vodka and “a very sweet letter” for his birthday. Mr. Berlusconi has demonstrated proclivity for giving gifts, too, but one that he has in mind this season won’t necessarily fit underneath a Christmas tree: Namely, calling the Kremlin to heel.

According to the Spectator, the Italian undersecretary for culture in Prime Minister Meloni’s new government, Vittorio Sgarbi, believes that Mr. Berlusconi wants his political swansong to be a peace deal that he mediates. Said Mr. Sgarbi, “He believes that he can pull it off, and if he does, without undermining Nato’s position, he will enter the history books as a global hero.”

That Mr. Berlusconi has entered, or rather reentered, Italian politics this late in the game is itself something of a marvel, and testament to either his notoriety or clout, depending on one’s point of view. He served as prime minister in four separate governments and heads the center-right Forza Italia, one of the three political parties that comprise Ms. Meloni’s governing coalition. He is no longer on top, but he is an active member of the Italian senate, and his authority is considerable.

His coziness toward Mr. Putin has also landed him in some hot water politically, and he has on more than one occasion appeared to put the blame on Ukraine for the war started by Russia. His doing so has raised some hackles at Rome, and prompted admonishment from Ms. Meloni, who last month said: “Italy will never be the weak link of the West with us in government.” 

In  leaked comments last month, Mr. Berlusconi said, “I have reconnected with President Putin — a little, a lot.” His doing so may not have earned him any friends at Kyiv, but it also confirmed that he is capable of aiming one arrow at Moscow that is conspicuously absent from the quiver of, say, President Macron: influence. “What Putin loves about Berlusconi,” the Spectator reported, “is his insistence on striking up a friendship with someone before getting down to business. The pair first met at the G8 meeting in Genoa in 2001 and got on like a house on fire.” Mr. Putin has been a guest at Mr. Berlusconi’s summer home at Sardinia many times. Mr. Macron once hosted Mr. Putin in France, but it was at an official residence, and the Russian leader did not look thrilled to be there. 

By contrast, in photos that show Messrs. Berlusconi and Putin together, the pair look to be having an honest-to-goodness fine time. For all the geopolitical dimensions to the Russian war on Ukraine, personal connections can still count for a lot. Yet if it may not take much for Mr. Berlusconi to sway Mr. Putin to the negotiating table, if only on the basis of personal amity, convincing President Zelensky to do the same is another matter. 

While the Ukrainian president has not ruled out talks with the Kremlin altogether, he has essentially said that any dialogue with Mr. Putin is  a nonstarter. So if Mr. Berlusconi really does want to  style himself as a peace broker, he will find it takes more than two to tango in this Continental quagmire.