MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi welcomed visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday but offered no sign of breaking ranks with international partners over European Union sanctions against Moscow.
Two weeks before the EU is due to decide whether to extend economic sanctions over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, Renzi praised the "traditional Italian Russian friendship" but spoke of "divergent positions" on some issues.
Renzi, who meets Putin for talks on Wednesday, made no explicit reference to the Ukraine crisis when speaking at a ceremony at the Milan Expo but he referred to the need to face "challenges, both those that see us holding divergent positions as well as those that unite us".
Russia enjoys better relations with Italy than with most other EU countries. It regards Rome as a reluctant backer of sanctions and a leading proponent of dialogue with Moscow.
(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, Giulio Piovaccari and James MacKenzie, Editing by Angus MacSwan)