Premier Matteo Renzi called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to help with the crisis in Libya during a visit to Moscow where he also urged Italian business to not "play the victim".
In a whirlwind visit to the Russian capital, Renzi also discussed the civil war in Ukraine with Putin and said diplomacy and politics were the best solution to global issues.
Renzi told Russian news agency TASS that he hopes Putin will help solve the Libya crisis.
"Russia's role in the Libya question could be very important in light of the historic ties between Russia and Egypt," Renzi said.
The Libya situation is "a priority", Renzi added. Putin welcomed Renzi by saying the Russian-Italian "political dialogue is always very active and are happy to meet in Moscow to talk all in all of our relationships".
In a meeting with Italian entrepreneurs working in Russia, Renzi called for a "cultural revolution" in approaches to business.
"Made-in-Italy is not just a dress or a pair of shoes but the concept of valuing the country," Renzi said.
"Paradoxically, the enemies of this concept arise from a primordial Italian tendency to play the victim".
On political issues, Renzi said that "there is no alternative to a political and diplomatic solution" to international crises. He spoke at the start of talks with Premier Dmitri Medvedev on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, one day after meeting in Kiev with Ukrainian President Petro Poroschenko. Medvedev said he hoped that "bilateral, economic and trade relations could also be discussed". As well, Renzi laid flowers on the bridge where opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on February 27.
After his meeting with Medvedev, Renzi said the Minsk accord between Russia and Ukraine "was a step forward".
"We must all respect...the Minsk agreement," Renzi told TASS.
"We must work on a daily basis for the premises and promises of Minsk to become a reality".
The Minsk protocol between Russia and Ukraine was brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Moscow in January.
It calls for a ceasefire and Constitutional reforms to ensure the rights of people in eastern Ukraine are respected.
Kiev forces have been engaged in a bloody conflict with pro-Russia separatist rebels in its eastern regions since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March last year.
Renzi also told Medvedev that he hopes Russians will flock to the Expo 2015 world's fair opening in Milan on May 1.
"We expect your fellow citizens to show up in numbers at Expo, to which Russia has made a significant contribution," Renzi told Medvedev.
Renzi told TASS that he hopes Putin will also attend Milan Expo 2015.
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