The Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte visited Moscow last month among other things he invited Putin to Rome as soon as possible. And the Kremlin announced on Thursday that diplomats are drafting a visit plan.
Russia is ready to develop ties with Italy in the hope of ending EU sanctions imposed on Moscow during the 2014 annexation of the Crimea region in Ukraine, reports Reuters.Conte told Putin last month that he things that the sanctions "should be removed as soon as possible" and that Rome wants to persuade other EU countries to abandon them.
The Italian firms, of which about 500 in Russia, have long complained that sanctions are damaging their business and have lobbied in Rome to remove them.
The latest EU round of doing business with the Russian financial and energy banking sector was renewed in June but expires at the end of January and will be discussed in Brussels.