Italy-Russia, Di Maio's minister in Moscow for trade agreements and human rights

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14 October 2020Mission to Moscow by Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio: on the agenda a visit to Technopark Skolkovo with the Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov, participation in Circeif - Italian-Russian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation and finally a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

"We are well aware of the problems, of the differences that relations between Russia and the European Union encounter today - said Di Maio - are differences that also emerge on the bilateral level that I will have the opportunity to discuss later with Minister Lavrov". 

"The pandemic crisis has produced a serious impact on our societies both in terms of human lives and on the economic level also in the commercial exchange between Italy and Russia".

This was stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, at a press conference in Moscow with the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Denis Valentinovic Manturov.

"This vivacity in economic and trade relations" between Italy and Russia, "which we are very satisfied with and which we want to continue to nurture, finds fertile ground in a historic friendship between our two countries", based on the "affinity between our two peoples "and on a" very solid cultural bond ", said the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, during the press point in Moscow.

The head of the Farnesina underlined "the high level of complementarity between our economies" and added: "We are confident of being able to strengthen our partnership thanks to the growing diversification of the Russian economy".

The presence of Minister Luigi Di Maio in Moscow "is the confirmation" of the Italian will to "keep the channels of dialogue with the Russian Federation open" and "Italy remains consistent with its traditional approach - said the minister during the joint press conference with Manturov - on the one hand he does not renounce to support international law and respect for human rights and on the other hand to keep open channels for dialogue and cooperation with the Russian Federation. My visit here is a significant confirmation of this ".

Russia hopes to have "fruitful cooperation with Italy and that bilateral relations will be developed" in the future, particularly in the aeronautical sector, and "is very grateful to Italy for the decisions taken" on the cooperation front, said the Russian Minister of Industry and Commerce, Denis Manturov, on the occasion of today's meeting in Moscow with the Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, for the meeting of the Italian-Russian Council for Economic Cooperation.

"Today we discussed how to relaunch our economic-commercial relations, obtaining mutual benefits, in the current scenario", added the Foreign Minister.

"We have also relaunched the Entrepreneurial Committee which is a fundamental component of the Italian-Russian Council", added Di Maio, thanking the two new co-presidents, "Dr. Tronchetti Provera and Dr. Konov".

"On some topics we have already found a solution today, on others we have decided to take time for further reflection", added Manturov.

Furthermore, 2021 has been proclaimed the year of cooperation between the museums of the two countries.

"We were able to discuss a wide range of issues, from the metallurgical sector to trade, from transport to culture. On some issues we managed to find a solution already today on others we decided to take some time for example on the plant which is located in Sardinia ", said the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, referring to the investments of the Russian Rusal on the island.