Italian PM looks forward to contacts with Russian president

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte looks forward to continuing contacts with the Russian president following his recent visit to Moscow, as he himself said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily, published on Thursday.

"We established an excellent relationship, I received a very warm welcome [in Moscow on October 24 - TASS]," Conte said. "I look forward to returning the favor in Rome soon," he added. When speaking about relations with US President Donald Trump, the Italian prime minister said that he had informed him about the visit to Russia.

According to Conte, he had secured Trump’s full support of Italy’s efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis. "We discussed preparations for a conference on Libya and he expressed full support for our initiative and actions," Conte said, referring to the international conference on Libya, scheduled to take place in Sicily’s Palermo on November 12-13. However, according to media reports, neither Putin nor Trump will attend the event.

On October 24, the Italian prime minister made an official visit to Moscow, during which the two countries signed economic cooperation agreements worth two mln euros. Conte invited the Russian president to visit Italy. Italian diplomatic sources did not rule out later that Putin’s visit may take place in early 2019.