Russia's opinions must be taken into account in G7 discussions, Italy's Gentiloni says

Record ID: 876311

  • Title: Russia's opinions must be taken into account in G7 discussions, Italy's Gentiloni says
  • Date: 17th May 2017
  • Summary: SOCHI, RUSSIA (MAY 17, 2017) (RUSSIAN POOL) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, AND ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, PAOLO GENTILONI, AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, PAOLO GENTILONI, SAYING: "The point of view of Russia, the opinions of Russia must be included in our discussions. We know the things that we have in common and we know the things that divide us but we also know that we have common interests; international stability and the fight against terrorism and also solving some crises, we've spoken about Libya earlier and we can extend that conversation to include Syria and why not also to the risks that exist on the Korean peninsula. Therefore, I think that taking such an important actor into account is is the duty of those whose job it is this year to chair the G7." RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV AND OTHER DELEGATES LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, PAOLO GENTILONI, SAYING: "Italy, in these past years, has always been in favour of reinforcing and keeping the dialogue between Russia and the European Union open. It is a strategic partnership which the difficulties and the crisis arising from the Ukrainian crisis cannot annul. I hope that the room to manoeuvre in this partnership, including the dialogue between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, may continue to expand." JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, PAOLO GENTILONI, SAYING: "From our point of view, the effort we have always made and will continue to make in the framework of the European Union and NATO is to underscore that there cannot be a type of automatism when it comes to the renewal of these sanctions. It is important that there is serious discussion, naturally keeping the objective of maintaining the unity of the European Union and NATO clear because if we are divided we go nowhere, but maturing these decisions, in addition to the objective of unity, to look at how the situation is developing on the ground in Ukraine." JOURNALISTS LISTENING NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 31st May 2017 13:51
  • Keywords: EU sanctions Ukraine G7 Russia Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni
  • Location: SOCHI, RUSSIA
  • City: SOCHI, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016H880G7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday (May 17) said the opinions of Russia must be included in the discussions at next week's G7 summit in Sicily.
    Russia and the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- made up the G8 until Moscow's membership was suspended in 2014 after Russian troops invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
    Speaking at a news conference alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Gentiloni also stressed the importance of improving dialogue between Russia, the European Union and NATO.
    Gentiloni added that while keeping a unified front with Italy's allies was his main objective, it was also clear that there should be no "autopilot" actions or "automatism" in the imposing of sanctions on Russia.
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