The ministry's reaction was triggered by Salvini's recent interview to The Washington Post in which the Italian official referred to the 2014 events that resulted in a change of power in Kiev as "a pseudo-revolution" funded by foreign powers.
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Salvini also disagreed with a statement made by one of the newspaper's journalists claiming that the Crimean referendum was "fake" and stressed that the vast majority of the peninsula's population had voted to rejoin Russia.
"We condemn the position of the Italian politician as not grounded in real facts and in contradiction of recognized principles and norms of international law. To voice protest and to receive clarifications from the Italian side, the Foreign Ministry has invited the ambassador of Italy," the ministerial statement read.
In 2013 and 2014, Kiev's Maidan square witnessed months of pro-European protests sparked by then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. In February 2014, the government was toppled.
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Following the change of power in Kiev, Crimea held a referendum in March 2014 on reunification with Russia, with almost 96 percent of the voters supporting the move. Kiev does not recognize the results of the vote. Russian officials have repeatedly stressed that the vote took place in accordance with the international legal framework.
