Italy's new government did nothing to stop the EU extending sanctions on Russia, despite its earlier bravado on the issue.
Rome wanted better "dialogue" with Moscow and more opportunities for Russian people to visit Europe, Italy's prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said in talks in the small hours of Friday's EU summit in Brussels.
But he did not play hardball on the issue, as he did on migration, where he threatened to veto EU de...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.