Russia, Italy have reached consensus on further relations - Putin, Prodi
MOSCOW. Feb 25 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin and ex-Italian prime minister Romano Prodi said Russia and Italy have reached a consensus on further relations despite the inner political processes.
On Monday Putin met with Prodi, who is UN special envoy for the Sahel.
"We can see the complicated processes going on inside Italy. I will not go into detail, but there is one thing that made me happy: Russia and Italy, irrespective of how their inner political processes are running, have reached a consensus on further relations," Putin said.
Prodi agreed.
"You know, Berlusconi and I do not go together well, but we have never had a single disagreement on Russia. You may be absolutely calm. I don't see any problems here," Prodi said.
Putin also spoke about Russia's contacts with Europe, saying that the European Union will hopefully recover soon from the current problems, and about liberalization of civil contacts between Russia and the EU, noting that both parties are interested in that.
Prodi in turn raised the issue of energy cooperation.
"The problem is how the interests could be mutually supplemented in the new energy setting. It is a serious problem for you, too, as all parameters are changing. Of course, Russia does not want the oil price to drop below $90. If the price is below $80, the oil exporter loses sovereignty," Prodi said.
