Russia plans to officially address the UN body in the Hague to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Idlib. Vladimir Putin announced this after his negotiations in the Kremlin with the Italian President Sergio Mattarella. The Russian leader believes that any events similar to the alleged chemical attacks in Idlib must be thoroughly investigated. According to Vladimir Putin, such provocations are being prepared in other parts of Syria, where "a specific type of substance may be planted and the whole thing will be blamed on the Syrian government".

All this reminds us of the events in 2003, when the US representative in the UNSC showed off a supposed chemical weapon, found in Iraq. After that, a military campaign in Iraq began and resulted in the destruction of the country an increased threat of terrorism, and the appearance of ISIS on the international stage. No more, no less. The same things are happening now. And again, our partners just nod at them. It reminds me in this case of our great writers, Ilf and Petrov. I just want to say, "This is boring, girls!" We've seen this all before already. When it comes to, when it comes to... why it is happening, Everybody wants to restore their relationships with the western community, after the last US administration, many European countries took an anti-Trump position during the election campaign. It's a very good platform for consolidation. Syria, Russia, there's a common enemy, it's great. We're ready to wait. But we hope it will result in some sort of positive trend toward cooperation.

They also seem to have their own reasons for internal American consumption. It's just that the political enemies of the current President haven't gone anywhere. And if anything happens, it will all be blamed on him. I have no doubt about that at all. Now, are new strikes possible, or impossible? We have information from different sources that a similar provocation, I can't really call it anything else, is being prepared in other parts of Syria, including the southern suburbs of Damascus. where they plan to plant a certain substance, and blame the Syrian government for using it. But we consider that any occurrence of this nature is worth investigating thoroughly. We plan to officially address the appropriate UN body in the Hague, and call upon the international community to thoroughly investigate these events. And depending on the results of the investigation, make an informed decision.

Vladimir Putin and Sergio Mattarella agreed to develop economic relations between the two countries. Particularly, Russia is ready to help Italian business open innovative production facilities in our country. Right now, the amount of Russian capital invested in the Italian economy amounts to $2.4 billion. and is now double Italy's counter-investment into Russia's economy. That being said, we count on the energetic performance of the Bilateral Council on Economic, Industrial, Monetary and Financial Cooperation. It is important to expand industrial cooperation, especially in the area of high technology. We are ready offer all kinds of assistance to Italian companies in localizing innovative production facilities on Russian territory, and in facilitating the joint production of components for the assembly of advanced high-tech prototypes for many different sectors of economy.