THE RUSSIAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS

The sharp aggravation of relations with the “collective West” had a negative impact on Russia's interaction with Italy. The complex of bilateral ties in all key areas elaborated within decades was severely damaged by Rome joining European Union sanctions against Russia and the curtailment of a significant number of joint projects.

Italy condemned the actions of the Russian Federation in connection with the recognition of the independence of the LPR and DPR and the start of the Special Military Operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine. Rome has fully and without exceptions approved all EU sanctions packages and supplies military and military-technical assistance to the Kiev regime. A campaign is underway to find and block the financial assets of Russian individuals and legal entities (assets worth more than 800 million euros have been frozen). The broadcasting of the news agencies RT and Sputnik in the country was stopped and alternative viewpoints are forced out of the media field.

Rome joined the campaign of unfounded expulsions of Russian diplomats by announcing on April 5, 2022 30 members of the Russian diplomatic mission in Italy personae non gratae.

At the same time, Russian-Italian relations have a rich, centuries-long history and a unique amount of shared cultural and spiritual heritage. In 1862 Russia officially recognized the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed in 1861. The Russian-Italian trade treaty, signed in 1863, helped to strengthen and develop political and economic relations. In 1876 the two countries' missions in St. Petersburg and Rome were transformed into embassies. In 1917, after the change of power in Russia, Italy recognized the Provisional Government. In 1921 Italy recognized the Russian Soviet Federative Republic (RSFSR) de facto, and in 1924 – de jure (7 – 11 February 1924 an exchange of notes on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Italy took place).

Despite the 1933 Pact of Friendship, Neutrality and Nonaggression between the Soviet Union and Italy, on June 22 Rome entered the war on Nazi Germany's side, 1941 and diplomatic relations were severed. In 1944, after the fall of Mussolini's regime, they were restored in their previous full format. The USSR was the first state to establish diplomatic relations with Italy after the overthrow of the fascist regime. In 1955 contacts with the Italian energy concern ENI were established. In 1969 Italy was the first Western country to sign a long-term gas supply contract with the Soviet Union. In 1991 Italy recognized Russia as the USSR's successor state.

The basic principles of bilateral relations are laid down in the Pact of Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Italian Republic of October 14, 1994 and in the Action Plan for relations between the Russian Federation and the Italian Republic of February 10, 1998. A solid base of intergovernmental and inter-institutional agreements in various areas has been elaborated.

Since 2002, there has been a line of direct communication between the Kremlin and the Chigi Palace (residence of the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy).

Between 2002 and 2014, the mechanism of Enhanced Inter-State Consultation, chaired by the President of the Russian Federation and the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, with the participation of key ministers of the two countries functioned. Eight meetings took place, the latest one – on November 26, 2013, in Trieste during Russian President Vladimir Putin's working visit to Italy. This format was suspended at the initiative of the Italian side in line with the EU-wide policy of limiting contacts with Russia due to the situation in Ukraine.

April 10 - 13, 2017, President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella paid an official visit to Russia, during which he held talks with Vladimir Putin and the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. October 23 - 24, 2018, the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy paid an official visit to Russia, in the course of which he had a meeting with Vladimir Putin and the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. July 4 - 5, 2019, Vladimir Putin paid an official visit to Italy, during which he held talks with Sergio Mattarella and the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy.

Between 2021 and 2022, Vladimir Putin had seven telephone conversations with the President of the Italian Council of Ministers: August 19, September 22, October 19, November 22  2021; February 1, March 30 and May 26 2022.

Active consultations on a wide range of bilateral and international issues were held by the Foreign Ministries of the two countries. The latest working visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov to Italy took place on October 31, 2021 on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rome. Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation was in Moscow on February 17, 2022.

Since 2010, four Russian-Italian meetings of Foreign and Defense Ministers in the "two plus two" format have taken place (May 20, 2010 in Rome, April 20, 2011 in Moscow, August 6, 2013 in Rome, February 18, 2020 in Rome). The participants of the meetings were received by the President of the Russian Federation and the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy.

January 30 - February 1, 2019, the President of the Senate of the Italian Republic paid an official visit to Russia, during which she held meetings with the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko and the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vladimir Volodin. March 3 - 5, 2019, the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic paid an official visit to Russia and held negotiations with Vladimir Volodin.

The main mechanism of interaction between the lower chambers of the parliaments of both countries is the High Russian-Italian interparliamentary commission (since 2000). Its 16th meeting was held in Moscow, chaired by Deputy Chairwoman of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya and the Chairman of the Commission for Foreign Affairs and EU Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Italian Republic on March 5, 2019.

By the end of 2021, Italy occupied the seventh place in Russia's general foreign trade turnover and the third in Russia’s foreign trade turnover with the EU member states after Germany and the Netherlands. According to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, a record bilateral trade turnover was registered in 2013 - 53.8 billion US dollars. In 2021, bilateral trade turnover increased by 54.7% compared to the same period in 2020 and amounted to 31.4 billion US dollars. Russian exports increased by 91.9% to 19.3 billion US dollars and Russian imports increased by 18% to 12 billion US dollars. Russia's surplus in trade with Italy was 7.3 billion US dollars.

According to the Bank of Russia, as of January 1, 2022, direct accumulated investments from Italy to Russia amounted to 4.8 billion US dollars and from Russia to Italy - 2.7 billion US dollars.

The questions of economic cooperation were given a special attention in the course of bilateral contacts at the highest level. October 24, 2018, a meeting of Vladimir Putin and the Italian Prime Minister with the heads of major Italian companies took place, as part of the official visit of the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy to Russia. January 26, 2022, Vladimir Putin held a video conference with leading representatives of Italian business circles. Until recently Russian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial, Monetary and Financial Cooperation, which has held eighteen meetings since 1999, has been an important instrument of bilateral trade and economic interaction. Co-chairman of the Russian side is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov, Italian side’s co-chairman is Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The last meeting of the Economic Council was held in Rome on December 6, 2021.

Italian companies are represented in the Russian market in all major sectors of the economy, including energy, oil and gas, petrochemical and tire industries, metallurgy, agro-industrial complex, construction, banking and financial as well as insurance sectors. The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce plays an important role in building cooperation with Italian partners in trade, economic and investment fields.

Italy was the first European country to appear as a partner at the 11th International Exhibition INNOPROM (Ekaterinburg, July 5-8, 2021), attended by 60 Italian companies. The Russian-Italian Industrial Forum took place as part of the event.

Interregional ties occupy an important place in bilateral relations. Over 40 agreements between constituent entities of the Russian Federation and Italian regions have been signed. Moscow, Ryazan, Lipetsk and Sverdlovsk regions until recently have actively cooperated with Liguria, Lombardia and Piemonte.

In accordance with agreements, reached during the telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, from March 21 to May 7, 2020 a team of specialists under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation were in Italy. Means of protection as well as medical and other equipment were delivered to combat the spread of coronavirus infection in the affected areas in the north of Italy. Russian military doctors-epidemiologists together with Italian military specialists conducted a complete disinfection of senior living communities and medical facilities in 93 settlements in the north of Italy. 119 buildings and constructions, more than 1 million 200 thousand sq. m of interior spaces and more than 450 thousand sq. meters of paved roads were treated. Eight medical and nursing teams worked in the Bergamo field hospital (Lombardia region).

The legal framework of Russian-Italian scientific and technological cooperation is the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Italian Republic on scientific and technical cooperation of December 1, 1995. Scientific cooperation is carried out through the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and other Russian research organizations, including with the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and the National Academy “Lincei”, both within bilateral scientific projects, and in the context of various international programs. The main areas of joint research are physics, astronomy, medicine, peaceful atom technology, and space exploration. June 29, 2018, an Agreement on cooperation between the RAS and CNR was signed in Moscow. July 4, 2019, the Joint Program on scientific and technical cooperation and joint competitions of Russian-Italian projects for 2019 - 2023 was signed in Rome.

March 12, 2022, the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research recommended that the heads of universities and research centers suspend student exchanges on double degree programs, as well as the start of new programs and all bilateral research projects with Russia and Belarus Republic involving the transfer of dual purpose materials and technologies.

February 25, 2022, cooperation between the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on April 13, 2021 was suspended.

Cultural relations between Russia and Italy are carried out on the basis of the intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture and education of February 10, 1998, as well as exchange programs, which are agreed in the framework of the Russian-Italian Joint Commission on Culture and Education and recorded in bilateral Protocols. July 4, 2019, the Protocol of the meeting of the Russian-Italian Mixed Commission on Cooperation in Culture and Education was signed in Rome, approving the Program of cooperation in culture, education, media, youth exchanges, sports and tourism for 2019 – 2022.

Both countries have extensive experience in the successful implementation of large-scale joint projects. The Russian-Italian cross-cultural year of museums was given a start in 2021. September 30, 2021, the Russia-Italy Museum Summit was held in Milan with the opening ceremony conducted by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Olga Lyubimova and the Minister of Culture of Italy. March 9, 2022, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced its suspension. In June 2022, all the artifacts displayed on the exhibitions taking place in Italy from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, State Tretyakov Gallery and other museums returned to the Russian Federation.

As part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the inauguration of the monument to the writer, created by Russian sculptor Aidyn Zeinalov, took place in Florence on December 14, 2021.

In the framework of the Agreement on Russian language teaching in the Italian Republic and Italian language teaching in the Russian Federation of November 5, 2003 the activities aimed at promotion of the Russian language in Italy and the Italian language in Russia are implemented. September 23, 2021, the first meeting of the Russian-Italian working group on cooperation in the field of language learning took place. The Russian-Italian intergovernmental Agreement on mutual recognition of education documents issued in the Russian Federation and the Italian Republic of December 3, 2009 is in effect.

Since 2011, the Russian Center of Science and Culture (RCSC) has been functioning in Rome. Along with the promotion of bilateral cultural, educational, scientific, technical and business relations, its main task is also the teaching of the Russian language. Meetings with cultural figures, conferences, concerts and exhibitions of Russian artists are organized on the basis of the RCSC.

Cooperation in the sphere of youth policy is based on the Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation on Youth of January 15, 2001.

Since 2004, Forum-Dialog of Civil Societies has been operating.

may 2023