MOSCOW, October 1 (Itar-Tass) - Rome has a positive opinion of Russia's recent proposal to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control and, as the next move, to eliminate them, new Italian ambassador to Russia Cesare Maria Ragaglini said in an interview to Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
"The international community should support it," the envoy said. "Syria is a big problem due to its important geostrategic position in the Middle East, and also from the humanitarian point of view."
Prior to his arrival in Moscow, Cesare Maria Ragaglini had been the permanent representative of Italy to the United Nations.
"We express our satisfaction with the agreement reached in this respect between Russia and the USA. Italy will cooperate within the framework of this initiative, although we do not hide that it will be a difficult and complex path, with serious obstacles. We'll continue to participate in all humanitarian operations in Syria and neighboring countries. Also, we believe that aside from settling the issue of chemical weapons, it is necessary to achieve a political settlement of the crisis," Ragaglini said.
"I believe that such a great country as Russia, which wields considerable influence in Syria, should use it on the incumbent regime, while other countries should do it with respect to the Opposition," the new Italian envoy said.