Relations between Russia and Italy are rooted deeply in history and are characterised by a shared cultural and spiritual heritage. When Italy was united and became a single nation-state in 1861, Russia recognised it as early as in 1862.
Italy recognised the Russian S.F.S.R. de facto in 1921 and established diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. de jure in 1924.
Diplomatic relations were broken off after Italy entered the war against the U.S.S.R. on June 22, 1941 on the side of Nazi Germany, and were restored in 1944.
In 1974, Italy became the first Western country to make a long-term gas supply contract with the U.S.S.R. In 1991, Italy recognised Russia as the successor state to the U.S.S.R.
Italy is one of Russia's closest partners in Europe. The countries maintain active cooperation in almost all areas. Russia and Italy share similar views on the majority of world political issues; they regularly discuss the current political situation and cooperate in international organisations and projects.
The main principles of the bilateral relationship are set out in the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, concluded between the Russian Federation and the Italian Republic on October 14, 1994, and in the Action Plan on relations between the Russian Federation and the Italian Republic, signed on February 10, 1998. Russia and Italy continue to make an increasing number of intergovernmental and interagency agreements in various areas of their cooperation.
A direct line of communication between the Kremlin and Palazzo Chigi (the Italian prime minister's residence) was established in 2002.
Since 2002, the two countries have been holding extended interstate consultations as part of summits, with key ministers participating in them. They held six such meetings; the last meeting was held in December 2009 in Rome as part of President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Italy.
Italy and Russia have been successfully maintaining an intensive political dialogue. President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano made a state visit to Russia on July 16-18, 2008. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Italy three times during 2009.
In May 2009, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited Moscow to talk to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and Sochi to meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The negotiations focused on trade and economic cooperation, including the implementation of agreements signed on November 6, 2008, during the fifth round of extended interstate consultations.
In August 2009, Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in the city of Ankara, Turkey.
There is also ongoing cooperation between the legislative, executive and judicial authorities of the two countries. The Big Russian-Italian inter-parliamentary commission has been operating since 2000.
The successful improvement of bilateral relations is underpinned by a solid economic foundation. Italy is Russia's fourth largest trade partner (after Germany, the Netherlands and China) in terms of total trade. In 2008, the value of total bilateral trade stood at $52.9 billion, $41.9 billion of which were accounted for by exports from Russia and $11 billion by imports to Russia from Italy. In 2009, the value of total bilateral trade stood at $32.9 billion, 37.8% down from 2008 (the Russian exports decreased by 40.3% and the Italian imports by 28.3%).
The Russian-Italian Council for economic, industrial, monetary and financial cooperation considers the main issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation. A total of ten meetings have been held since 1999; the last, Session X of the council took place in Rome on February 16, 2009, chaired by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini. There are plans to hold Session XI of the Council in Russia in the second half of 2010.
Advanced technologies and space industry have been main points of cooperation during the last few years. The Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Exploration and Use of Outer Space, signed on November 28, 2000 and in effect from August 24, 2004, also stimulated cooperation in this field. In April 2005, an Italian astronaut, Roberto Vittori, participated in the Soyuz taxi-flight to the International Space Station. Italy's aerospace company Alenia Aeronautica forged a strategic partnership with Russia's Sukhoi Company to embark on the project to build the Russian regional jet Superjet-100.
The energy industry is, by tradition, the driving force of bilateral economic cooperation. When Italian energy concern Eni bought Urengoil and Arktikgaz's gas assets in April 2007, it acquired direct access to the development of gas fields in Russia. Conversely, Gazprom was able to start operations in the Italian domestic market on the basis of appropriate agreements to this effect. Gazprom and Eni are gradually improving their cooperation in the project to build a gas pipeline system from Russia to Southern Europe across the Black Sea (the South Stream project). Italy's energy concern Enel is an active player in the Russian energy market: in 2006 it acquired a 49.5% stake in Russian energy trading company Rusenergosbyt, and holds the controlling interest (almost 70%) in power generating company OGK-5.
Through an initiative proposed by Silvio Berlusconi in 2002, there is growing cooperation between the two countries in the creation of industrial districts in Russia using Italy's experience. At present, 17 Russian regions are involved in this project. In November 2005, the first industrial district in Lipetsk was given the status of a special economic zone.
Interregional cooperation plays an important role in bilateral relations. Italian and Russian regions have signed over 40 agreements and are now implementing them.
Russia and Italy actively cooperate on the political and technical aspects of their militaries in the context of the intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation on Military Technical Issues and Defence Industry as of November 14, 1996. In September 2004 and January 2008, Russian and Italian navies completed joint exercises in the Mediterranean Sea.
Italy gave a new impetus to the cooperation in the field of emergency response when it expressed its solidarity following the terrorist attack in Beslan. The Italian government was the first foreign state to provide the aid required to overcome this tragedy. The Child's Rehabilitation Centre, built and equipped through funds provided by the Italian government, opened on November 17, 2006. Italy also finances a number of other projects to modernise health-care facilities in Beslan and Vladikavkaz.
Cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural spheres is an important element of bilateral relations. During the interstate consultations that were held in Moscow on November 6, 2008, Dmitry Medvedev and Silvio Berlusconi approved an initiative by ministers of culture of both countries to hold the Year of the Russian Language and Culture in Italy and the Year of the Italian Language and Culture in Russia in 2011.
In 2003, the Russian president and the Italian prime minister established the Joint Award for Improving Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and Italy. The first recipients of the award were the Director of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Irina Antonova, and the Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli.