ROME, July 3. /TASS/. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte hopes to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is expected in Rome on Thursday, as warmly as he himself was welcomed in Moscow last October, Conte said in an interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman.

The interview was done prior to the Russian president’s official visit to Italy.

"I will be granted with an opportunity to pay President Putin back with the same hospitality. I was welcomed very warmly in Moscow last October. It will be possible to discuss bilateral relations and the ways to enhance them," Conte said.