by Eric J. Lyman
ROME, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Ties between the European Union and Russia may improve in the wake of the visit to Italy by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But analysts said the degree of improvement will depend on how much Italy is willing to push the issue.
On his July 4 visit, Putin praised Italy for its critical stance on European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia put in place in 2014, after the country's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.
"We hope that Italy will consistently and clearly speak out about its position (regarding sanctions) and battle for what was said in public many times, namely for the complete return to normal relations between Russia and Europe as a whole," Putin said during the visit.
Putin said the sanctions have cost Russia 50 billion U.S. dollars in lost trade, but he estimated impact on European economies was even greater.
"European nations missed the chance to sell billions in goods to the Russia market," Putin said in a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. "This means we all lose."
For his part, Conte said Italy would do as much as it could to help restore relations between the EU and Russia. But he did not go into specifics.
According to Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti, a research fellow with the think tank Italian Institute for International Political Studies, Italy has two ways to help encourage closer relations between the EU and Russia.
"Italy could veto the renewal of the sanctions, but that would have a very high cost for Italy and I think it's unlikely Italy would do that," Tafuro Ambrosetti told Xinhua. "The other path is for Italy to try to lobby on Russia's behalf, to either reduce existing sanctions or to prevent new ones."
It is not clear how effective a lobby effort would be given that under the year-old Conte government, Italy has repeatedly clashed with the EU on issues ranging from migrant policies to budget deficits.
"There are different reasons some European Union member states might have a sympathy for the Russian situation, but it is not clear that Italy is the best country to try to build a pro-Russia coalition among member states," Andrea Carteny, an international relations professor at Rome's La Sapienza University, said in an interview.
Whatever happens regarding sanctions, Carteny said Italy continues to prove itself to "an important friend" for Russia's among EU member states.
"The countries have a long history of close ties and I think that the fact that Conte last year invited Putin to Rome and that Putin made this trip proves that relationship remains strong," he said.
Tafuro Ambrosetti agreed, saying that the meeting between Putin and Conte along with other Italian leaders "sends a political message in regard to a country that does not have many political allies in Europe."
In addition to Conte, Putin met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, Minister of Foreign Affairs Enzo Moavero Milanesi, and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, a former prime minister who was elected last month to the European Parliament.
