By RIA Novosti,
Rome : Russia’s Vladimir Putin, now in the final weeks of his presidency, will fly from Libya to Sardinia on Thursday evening to meet with Italian prime minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi.
During the Italian billionaire’s second term as premier from 2001 to 2006, the two met on numerous occasions, and Berlusconi was seen as Putin’s key ally in Europe.
Putin’s spokesman, Alexei Gromov, said yesterday that the two days of meetings would address the future of Russian-Italian relations, but did not give details on the agenda.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Berlusconi said: “I will be having an official dinner with Putin, who will be attending as Russian president. Soon after that we will become colleagues – prime ministers.”
Putin will cede the presidency to his hand-picked successor Dmitry Medvedev on May 7, and will become Russia’s prime minister and chairman of the ruling United Russia party.
Berlusconi also said Italy would seek to foster closer ties between Russia and the European Union, several of whose members have troubled relationships with Moscow.
The two-day meeting at one Berlusconi’s luxurious villas will be the first of a series of appointments with foreign leaders for the 71-year-old conservative, elected on April 13-14 and set to assume office next month.