On the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Bruno Archi held a long and cordial meeting in Moscow with Russian Deputy Minister Sergey Ryabkov on the multilateral concerns of the G8/G20 and issues regarding disarmament.
With regard to the former, the Deputy Ministers exchanged national viewpoints on multilateral G8 topics after the recent Lough Erne summit, with particular attention to the priorities of next year’s Russian Presidency, and of the G20, ahead of the Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in St. Petersburg on 5-6 September. Some specific areas of common interests were identified as due for deeper joint analysis, such as our country’s priorities in addressing youth unemployment and energy policies.
Within the context of discussions on disarmament, after examining the situation concerning the main multilateral forums, Archi also recalled Italy’s signing (at the ceremony for the opening to signatures at the UN in New York on 3 June), along with 66 other countries, of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which represents a milestone in the regulation of international conventional weapons trade. He then urged his Russian counterpart toward further reflection, with a view toward the Russian Federation’s timely adherence to the treaty.
