ROME (Sputnik) — The resolution authorizes the chairman of Lombardy's regional council and the head of the region to cooperate with the government and the parliament of Italy, as well as with EU institutions in order to reconsider relations between Russia and the 28-nation bloc, as well as to promote establishment of a committee to collect signatures to lift anti-Russia sanctions.
Lombardy became the third Italy's region, along with Liguria and Veneto, whose regional councils adopted a resolution urging the national government to condemn the EU policy toward Crimea and to work toward lifting the sanctions imposed on Russia.
In 2014, relations between Russia and the European Union, including Italy, deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. Brussels, Washington and their allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions over Crimea's secession from Ukraine and for Moscow's alleged meddling in the Ukrainian conflict.
Russia has repeatedly refuted the allegations, warning that the Western sanctions are counterproductive and undermine global stability.