Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to make a rare trip to Western Europe for a June 10 meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi just two weeks before a key vote on extending economic sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
Putin will be on the lookout for signs of dissent over the European Union sanctions — which were imposed last year when Russia took over Crimea and are up for an extension vote June 25 — but he is likely to be disappointed.
The Russian leader is due to meet Renzi at the Expo 2015 global fair in Milan.
Although he can expect a friendly reception, Italy is unlikely to break ranks with the Group of Seven, which warned Putin earlier this week that it would increase sanctions if violence in Ukraine increases.
But Russia enjoys better relations with Italy than most EU members. It regards Rome as a reluctant backer of sanctions and a leading proponent of dialogue with Moscow.
“My Italian partners have always put the interests of Italy, of the Italian people, first and believed that in order to serve the interests of their country, including economic and political interests, they must maintain friendly relations with Russia,” Putin told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Italians mostly return the love, but Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni recently signalled no change in Italy’s stance on Ukraine and made it clear he did not subscribe to Putin’s version of events there.
“Italy has been combining loyalty to its allies with a special relationship with Russia,” Gentiloni said in a separate interview with Corriere della Sera.
Putin hopes to get a sympathetic reception in Vatican City, where he will have an audience with Pope Francis on the afternoon of June 10.
The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics and the Russian president were expected to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, the plight of Christians in the Middle East, and Orthodox-Catholic relations, Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov told Russian state media.
The pope has so far avoided taking sides in the Ukrainian crisis while Western powers have embarked on a sanctions war with Russia.
Corriere della Sera said June 9 that the Vatican hopes to enroll Putin’s help in convincing the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, to agree to a historic meeting with Francis.
Based on reporting by Reuters, dpa, and Interfax
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Putin To Court Italian Vatican Leaders As Sanctions Vote Looms
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