Energy Security in Italy-Russia relations

The roundtable began with speeches by Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and President of Gazprom Dmitri Medvedev. The encounter was a unique opportunity to examine the state of Italian-Russian relations with a special focus on the energy question. The debate highlighted the excellent trend in relations between the two countries and the encouraging prospects for future agreements, not only in the energy sector but also in other sectors – the high-tech one in particular. The increasing volume of Italian-Russian trade was underscored and an emphasis was placed on the need for future progress in industrial cooperation. The Russians gave repeated reassurance regarding continuity of energy supplies. On the whole, the roundtable provided an excellent opportunity to analyze the present situation and to assess possible actions by institutional and economic players to promote new initiatives, agreements and instruments.