Italian Defence Minister to pay official visit to Russia

Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino will pay an official visit to Russia on October 18-20.

The Italian Defence Minister will start his visit in St Petersburg, where he is scheduled to meet with the Commanding staff of the Leningrad military district, the Russian Defence Ministry disclosed to a RIA Novosti correspondent.

On October 19th Martino will meet in Moscow with Chairman of the State Duma Defence Committee Andrey Nikolayev and will visit historical and architectural monuments of the Russian capital.

On October 20th he will meet with Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov.

"It is planned to discuss the present state and perspectives of the Russo-Italian co-operation at a level of Defence Ministries as well as key-issues concerning the regional and international security," a source in the Russian Defence Ministry disclosed.