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Russia and Italy to sign gas pact Russia and Italy back gas accord
(about 3 hours later)
Italy's Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, is expected to finalise a major energy deal with Russia at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Italy's Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin have finalised details of a major gas deal between the two countries.
The agreement between Russia's Gazprom and Italy's ENI will give Russia the right to sell gas directly to Italian consumers for the first time. The agreement between Russia's Gazprom and Italy's ENI will give Russia the right to sell gas directly to Italian consumers from next month.
The two men will also discuss Russia's political differences with the EU at talks in the Adriatic city of Bari. At their meeting in the Adriatic city of Bari, the two men also called for talks on a new Russia-EU partnership.
The meeting came on the second and final day of Mr Putin's visit to Italy.
On Tuesday, Mr Putin met Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican for the first time.On Tuesday, Mr Putin met Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican for the first time.
The Pope and Mr Putin held "cordial" private talks lasting about 25 minutes, speaking mostly in German, Vatican officials said.The Pope and Mr Putin held "cordial" private talks lasting about 25 minutes, speaking mostly in German, Vatican officials said.
They discussed ways to improve relations between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches, dogged by long-standing differences.They discussed ways to improve relations between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches, dogged by long-standing differences.
The Vatican said the talks had been held in a "very positive atmosphere". Jet accord
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Rome says the focus of Mr Putin's trip will now turn to energy and security as he meets Mr Prodi. Energy and security were high on the agenda for the summit between Mr Putin and Mr Prodi, aimed at boosting economic links between Russia and Italy.
The two men are likely to discuss disagreements between Europe and Russia over major issues such as Iran, Iraq and the Middle East. In November last year, Gazprom signed a deal with the Italian energy company, ENI, giving the Russian state monopoly a foothold in southern Europe.
They will also talk about energy since the Russian gas giant, Gazprom, signed a deal with the Italian energy company, ENI, in November which gives the Russian state monopoly a foothold in southern Europe. As well as reviewing this deal, officials and businessmen from the two countries signed a series of other agreements, including a deal between Italy's Alenia and Russia's Sukhoi to build and market a new medium-range jet plane.
But while Mr Prodi is a supporter of closer economic ties, he is looking for assurances from Mr Putin that Russia will guarantee supply and will not use gas and oil to drive hard diplomatic agendas with its neighbours, as Moscow has been accused of doing in the past, our correspondent says. The two leaders issued a joint statement saying the accords represented "significant steps" towards boosting bilateral relations.
They added that they wanted talks between the EU and Moscow on a new strategic partnership agreement to begin as soon as possible.
An EU-Russia summit in Helsinki last November ended without progress on such a pact, after Poland vetoed the talks in protest at Russia's ban on imports of Polish meat.