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Italian senator calls to invite Russian president to G7 summit

Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to hold talks on April 11

Italian senator Maurizio Gasparri AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

Italian senator Maurizio Gasparri

© AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

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Lawmaker says without Russia G7 is 'club of US friends'

ROME, April 10. /TASS/. Italian senator Maurizio Gasparri has suggested that the country’s President Sergio Mattarella should invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to take part in the next month’s G7 summit in Sicily, the ANSA news agency reported.

Mattarella and Putin are expected to hold talks on April 11.

The senator stressed that the self-destructive economic sanctions introduced by the West against Russia amid the Ukrainian crisis should be lifted and Italy needs to become a "driving force" in dialogue and cooperation between the US, NATO and Russia.

Gasparri said Mattarella has a historic chance to make his visit not a routine event but a "fundamental shift at this dramatic moment in the life of the international community."

Italy, which holds the rotating G7 presidency this year, will host the 43rd G7 summit in the Sicilian city of Taormina on May 26-27.

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