Italy to ensure G7 summit supports clear dialogue with Russia

Rome, May 5 (IANS) Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano announced that Italy is to work hard to ensure that the next G7 Summit recognizes the need to establish a clear dialogue with Russia.

During an intervention at the Italian Parliament on Thursday, Alfano said the upcoming G7 Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be held May 26-27 in the Sicilian city of Taormina, should prioritize relations with Moscow, Efe news reported.

He pointed out that the Foreign Ministers of the world’s seven most developed countries had already stressed, during their meeting last April in the Italian city of Lucca, the fundamental role Russia could play in resolving international conflicts such as the Syrian civil war.

In April, the G7 Foreign Ministers, representing Italy, France, Germany, Britain, the US, Japan and Canada, backed a "political, not military" solution in Syria that included Russia and discarded a British proposal to apply further sanctions on Moscow.

The Syrian crisis and the international community’s relationship with Russia are to be two of the top issues on the next summit’s agenda, which are scheduled to be discussed by the G7 leaders alongside the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.