PRESS RELEASE

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Moscow and Rome Agree on World Reforms, Says Ambassador to Italy

Nov. 1, 2008 (EIRNS)—On Nov. 6, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will meet Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow. The day after, at the Brussels summit of the European heads of state and government, Italy will present Russia's proposals for the Nov. 15 G20 meeting in Washington. Commenting on this in an interview with Il Foglio, Russian Ambassador to Italy Alexei Meshkov, said that Russia will propose some clear rules to stop financial speculation and to promote the real economy. Meshkov also stressed that there is a common point of view between Moscow and Rome, about "how the future of Europe and the world should be in the long term." Russia and Italy are working together, and it is relevant that Italy will chair the next G8 and it is currently a rotating member of UN Security Council.

The Russian ambassador stressed that Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev's key focus in foreign policy is a principle: "No state may endanger the national security of a neighboring state"—and he added that no one alone is able to solve the problems of the world. Meshkov also stated that there is much more in common, than there are differences, with the United States.