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Russia a strategic partner and global actor in the international arena – new Italian ambassador to Russia
6 June. Vittorio Claudio Surdo, the newly appointed Italian ambassador to Russia, said in an interview with Interfax that there will be no changes in Italian approaches to Russia.
The two countries have a mutual interest in continuing their work, the ambassador said. During Silvio Berlusconi's five-year tenure, excellent progress was made, he said. The results must now be consolidated and extended to enlarge the field of cooperation, he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi know each other well and they have had cordial relations since Prodi headed the European Commission, Surdo said.
Surdo said preparations are under way for Prodi's possible visit to Russia before the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg.
The positions of the new Italian government are closer to Russia’s positions than before, even though relations were perfect then, the high-ranking diplomat said. However, our positions on Iraq have become closer, because Italy has moved closer to the position shared by the core of the European Union. In general, as far as major crises are concerned, Italy pays particular attention to political and diplomatic means for settling them, the ambassador said.
Thus, the Italian government is certain that diplomatic means should be pursued to the end in the Iranian settlement. We hope that the initiative by the 5 + 1 group [permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany] has started a new stage in the dialogue, Surdo said. A lot will depend on the Iranian authorities, which need to show flexibility on these proposals, which show the seriousness of intentions of the international community, he said.
Italy believes particular attention should be paid to finding a solution to the crisis over Iran's nuclear program at the upcoming G8 summit in St. Petersburg, the diplomat said.
Stressing that sherpas, the personal envoys of the heads of states, rather than embassies, are involved in the preparation of such meetings, Surdo said that the Iranian nuclear issue was important, along with the summit's agenda. Italy believes that G8 member-states are bound to play a crucial role in solving the crisis, the ambassador said.
Speaking about prospects for Russian-Italian energy cooperation, he said that Italy should thoroughly study Germany's experience in developing relations with Russia in the energy sector.
Asked about Italy's position in the Russian-EU energy dialogue, the ambassador said that the priority of the new Italian government was to return Italy's leading role in the EU, and that Italy and Germany were showing signs of interest in each other.
These tendencies may be useful in securing further development of Russian-EU relations. In this context, the German approach to energy cooperation, which is based on the principle of reciprocity, as the agreements of Tomsk [reached during German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Russia] show, should be examined, the ambassador said.
Moreover, Italy and Russia should work more actively to deepen the interdependency of their economies, primarily through direct investments, rather than through economic cooperation and trade, he said. This relates to Italian investments in Russia and Russian investments in Italy, the diplomat said.
"Energy could be one of those areas. Gazprom and Eni are looking into the issue. I hope that they will be able to achieve results that are beneficial for both parties," Surdo said.
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