Italy, Russia advocate diplomatic solution to Syria crisis

Italy and Russia agreed Tuesday on the need to support the international efforts advocating a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria. The recent St. Petersburg G-20 summit has paved the way for international efforts seeking negotiated solution to the Syrian crisis, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said in a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin. He added that the international community has to rally support to the Geneva II Conference on Syria peace, planned January 22. Letta underlined the need to quickly implement the United Nations resolutions on the disposal of Syrian chemical weapons and on tackling the humanitarian tragedy of displaced Syrian. Meanwhile, the two leaders also expressed serious concerns about the shaky security situation in post-revolution Libya. They also welcomed the recent nuclear agreement between Iran and the world major powers. They voiced hopes the agreement would help open new chapter of relations between Tehran and the international community. With regard to bilateral relations, Italy and Russia officials signed 28 cooperation agreements covering a wide array of domains on the sidelines of the summit, attended by a total of 20 government ministers from the two countries. The summit was held on the second day of Putin's two-day official visit to Italy. On Monday, he had talks in Rome with Pope Francis, President Giorgio Napolitano and former prime ministers Romano Prodi and Silvio Berlusconi