MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Russia is interested in resuming the format of interstate consultations with Italy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio on Thursday.

"Of course, during the pandemic, a number of mechanisms were not so noticeable. In particular, we would like to resume work within the framework of interstate consultations, which were actively used not so long ago, but the latest ones were held in Trieste in 2013, and since then the consultations, which actually take the form of meetings of the two leaders with key members of the governments of both countries, have not been held, although this mechanism was very, very useful," Lavrov said.

In addition, the top Russian diplomat believes that it is time to prepare for the next meeting in the "two plus two" format with Italy. "Despite the coronavirus restrictions, in January 2020 we resumed work in the "two plus two" format between the foreign ministers and defense ministers. I think it's time to think about the next meeting, which should be held in Italy."

"Our committee on trade and economic issues is working, and we hope that the intergovernmental committee on trade and economic issues will be able to resume its activity soon," the Russian foreign minister stressed.