Rome is determined to promote a new chapter in NATO cooperation with Russia, Italian Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Guglielmo Picchi, who is also a foreign policy adviser to Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Lega Party leader Matteo Salvini, said.
"NATO is a cornerstone of Italy’s international policy. Nonetheless, our country can and must speak its mind on major strategic decisions … Italy intends to inaugurate a new season of cooperating with Moscow, in the spirit of the [2002] Pratica di Mare Summit," Sputnik cited Picchi as saying.
The official also recalled that Italian Prime Minister Conte had joined US President Donald Trump's call for Russia to be brought back into the G7.
According to him, though "eastward, Russia has undoubtedly assumed positions that deserved a firm response," the biggest dangers facing the alliance, in Italy's point of view, stemmed from the south, specifically the arrival of migrants from across the Mediterranean sea.
