CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, XVII LEGISLATURE, 530th MEETING, 26 NOVEMBER 2015.

On 26 November 2015, during a question time taking place at the Chamber of Deputies, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Paolo Gentiloni Silveri, took position on the possible involvement of the Russian Federation in the international coalition against ISIL/Daesh. He stated:

[…] the aim is to reinforce, to consolidate the action of the international coalition. We are first of all talking about a military issue: Italy is engaged in military terms on several fronts and in particular in Iraq, where – as you may know – it is the most engaged European country in the anti-Daesh coalition from a military point of view. Political aims are also crucial: the transition to be ensured in Syria, a more inclusive capacity towards the Sunni community in Iraq, a deal in Libya. I believe we should also add the need to – at least – try and further broaden the anti-Daesh coalition: we were among those trying to acknowledge both the problems and the opportunities related to the Russian presence in Syria, and we raised the issue of the possibility of extending this coalition to Russia, further involving Russia in it.

The full Italian version of this statement can be downloaded here.