PRODI/PUTIN - ITALIANS CLAIM "FULL HARMONY" WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000535

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2007
TAGS: PREL PGOV NATO EUN UNSC RU IT
SUBJECT: PRODI/PUTIN - ITALIANS CLAIM "FULL HARMONY" WITH
RUSSIA


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Classified By: Classified by Acting Political Minister Counselor Jonath
an R Cohen for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
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1. (C) Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Italy on
March 13 and 14 for his fourth bilateral with PM Prodi in ten
months. Putin and Prodi met for three-hours over dinner
March 13, and traveled to the Adriatic port city of Bari
along with several ministers for a largely economic summit
March 14. In the press conference after the Prodi-Putin
meeting, Prodi called the summit a testament of the strategic
partnership between Italy and Russia and declared that the
two countries shared close or identical positions on nearly
every international issue. An advisor to Prodi described the
summit as an enormous success and declared it an important
step in bringing Russia forward into the ranks of countries
that want to use multilateralism and consensus to solve
international crises. Representatives of the MFA, however,
questioned the basis for the PM's giddiness and insisted that
Italy differs with Russia on several significant points.
Public statements made raise our concerns over GOI positions
in the UNSC, on Kosovo, Iran, Missile Defense and
Afghanistan. End summary.


2. (C) On March 13 and 14, Russian president Putin visited
Italy for a bilateral summit. The summit focused largely on
economic and commercial issues (septel),but gave Putin a
broad platform to discuss political issues. Putin met
briefly on the March 13 with President Napolitano and visited
the Vatican before holding a three hour dinner meeting with
PM Prodi. According to a diplomatic advisor to Prodi,
attendance at the dinner was tightly restricted but Prodi and
Putin emerged convinced that Russia and Italy could become
strategic partners on security, energy, and trade. According
to the source, Putin and Prodi were "in full agreement" on
both the way forward and the preferred outcome on Iran.
Kosovo and Afghanistan, they agreed, required international
consensus, a multilateral approach (UN),and greater
diplomatic engagement with states and parties that have been
previously ignored. The press played particular attention to
Prodi's call for close Russian-Italian cooperation in the
UNSC. MFA sources, however, worked hard to play down Prodi's
giddiness and the level of political agreement on Kosovo,
Afghanistan and Iran and insisted that, while Prodi leads the
government, D'Alema is fully implementing Italy's foreign
policy in close coordination with its allies. Comment: Be
that as it may, D'Alema's public statements after his
parallel bilateral with Russian FM Lavrov do not give cause
for reassurance.

Kosovo: Mixed Messages on Ahtisaari Plan
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3. (C) Ruggiero Corrias, a diplomatic advisor to Prodi, told
poloffs that Prodi and Putin agreed that a negotiated
settlement to the Kosovo status issue was the preferred
outcome and cited Belgrade and Pristina's attendance at the
most recent Vienna talks as a major step forward. He stated
that the EU and US incentives could convince Belgrade to be
more constructive in finding an acceptable negotiated
settlement. (He was apparently unaware that Serbia had been
granted PfP and SAA.) When asked if D'Alema's statement that
Russia and Italy agreed to insist on acceptance by the two
sides, even if it comes after the Ahtisaari report meant that
Prodi believed that Ahtisaari's plan and the current
timetable for a discussion on Kosovo could be abandoned,
Corrias demurred saying he was not an expert on the issue.


4. (C) The next day, Raimondo De Cardona, Director of the MFA
Balkans Office, told poloff that comments to the press
notwithstanding, D'Alema expressed significant differences of
opinion to Russian FM Lavrov on the Kosovo issue. D'Alema
rejected any idea that a plan that does not have the full
support of Belgrade is unacceptable.

Iraq/Afghanistan: No simple military solution
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5. (C) Corrias stated that Prodi and Putin agreed that
neither Iraq nor Afghanistan could be resolved by force and a

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comprehensive political and reconstruction effort was needed.
Additionally, Syria and Iran needed to be drawn into the
discussion on Iraq. Prodi publicly supported the idea of
hosting an Afghanistan peace conference "even if there are
objections in Washington", and asserted to the press that the
Kremlin was fully on board with the idea. MFA contacts
continue to insist that although Italy continues to plan a
Rule of Law conference, a broad peace conference is highly
unlikely - even in D'Alema's view.

Missile Defense: Need to Consult Russia
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6. (C) According to Corrias, Putin and Prodi did not discuss
Missile Defense. Putin and Lavrov, however, reiterated their
opposition to European MD. D'Alema added that MD needed to
be discussed at the EU and NATO level, not bilaterally. In a
subsequent conversation, MFA NATO Office Director Minister
Gianni Bardini assured A/PolMC that the minister subsequently
had been briefed that Missile Defense was being discussed at
NATO, including with the Russians, and had been for the last
year.

Iran: Sanctions must be targeted, gradual
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7. (C) Corrias told poloffs that Russia is equally concerned
about the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran and believed that
this concern, not a contractual dispute, was the ultimate
motivation for Russian unwillingness to move forward on
supplying the Busheur nuclear plant. Prodi and Putin agreed
that any new sanctions must be targeted against the
individuals and institutions that are engaged in the
enrichment process. Nevertheless, both Putin and Prodi
agreed that other options, including continued engagement and
diplomatic pressure, should be exhausted before resorting to
additional sanctions.
SPOGLI