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The leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin told Mario Draghi about the ongoing efforts to establish peaceful life in the liberated cities of Donbass. He described in detail the measures taken to ensure safe navigation, including the daily opening of humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilian vessels from the ports of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The President of Russia noted that Ukraine was obstructing these measures. Vladimir Putin also gave his principled assessment of the negotiating process frozen by Kiev.

The leaders thoroughly discussed the status of global food security. Having noted that Russia is being groundlessly accused of disrupting global food supplies, Vladimir Putin emphasised that these difficulties had been caused, in part, by failures in production and supply chains, as well as the financial policy of the Western countries during the coronavirus pandemic. The US- and EU-imposed anti-Russia restrictions have made a bad situation worse.

Vladimir Putin stressed that the Russian Federation is willing to make a substantial contribution to overcoming the food crisis by exporting grain and fertiliser on the condition that the West removes its politically-motivated restrictions.

While discussing energy security issues, the Russian leader reaffirmed Russia’s willingness to continue failsafe natural gas supplies to Italy at contractual prices.