ROME, October 22 (RIA Novosti) – Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi expressed hope that progress would be made in the Ukraine crisis resolution and stressed the importance of Russia's role in international relations Wednesday.
"Russia is important not only for Italian business. First of all, it [Russia] is important for maintaining an international balance of power," Renzi said in an address to the Italian parliament.
The Italian prime minister noted that "important steps forward were made in relations between Russia and Ukraine" during talks between the Russian, Ukrainian and European leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Milan last week.
According to Renzi, the talks gave hope that progress would be made in the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis. Italy continues to urge everyone to respect the freedom of the Ukrainian people, the prime minister said.
More than 50 countries gathered at the 10th ASEM summit in Milan on October 16-17 to discuss global security issues, development and the crisis in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian conflict was also discussed during a breakfast meeting on the margins of the summit on October 17. The working breakfast was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, as well as British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Van Rompuy said following the talks that no political solution had been found for the Ukrainian crisis.
The situation in Ukraine aggravated in mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the country's southeastern regions. On September 5, a ceasefire agreement was signed by the two sides, but ceasefire violations continue to be reported by both parties to the conflict.
