The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marta Dassù, has had a long meeting in Moscow with her Russian colleague, Deputy Minister Aleksey Meshkov. They discussed bilateral issues and EU-Russian relations.
“2+2” meeting in Rome on 6 August
As a follow-up to the recent talks between Foreign Ministers Bonino and Lavrov, the two Deputy Ministers agreed that the next “2+2” meeting (of Foreign and Defence Ministers) will take place in Rome on 6 August 2013. This will be followed by an inter-governmental summit in Trieste and, at the end of the year, the Economic and Financial Cooperation Council. In Moscow, Dassù and Meshkov reviewed key economic collaboration projects, including in the energy and industrial sectors.
Dialogue Forum for civil society
The two deputy ministers also talked of reviving the Dialogue Forum for civil society. They then moved on to European-Russian relations, not least in light of Italy’s EU Presidency in the second half of 2014.
Moscow was the last stage of Dassù’s visit to Russia, during which she attended the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. The Forum is a platform for dialogue and debate by Russian political leaders and Italian and international personalities from the economic, financial and industrial communities. Deputy Minister Dassù took part in a panel discussion on food security.
