The deadly terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall last week was a "very heavy blow" for Russia's president Vladimir Putin and a "failure" of its intelligence services, Italy said on Thursday.
"Putin suffered a very heavy blow in Moscow," foreign minister Antonio Tajani told the Start' Sky Tg24 programme.
"The attack was predictable: there was a warning on government websites to avoid crowded places and to postpone trips to Russia," he said.
The Islamic State jihadist group's Khorasan Province regional branch (ISIS-K) claimed the attack on Moscow's Crocus Hall in which at least 137 people died. Russian officials have claimed, without apparent evidence, that Ukraine and Western spy agencies were behind the attack.
"There was a failure of Russian intelligence services, and Putin has to conceal the debacle by blaming others," Tajani stated.
"But there is no doubt about the source of the attack," he said.
IS claimed the attack at the concert hall on Moscow's outskirts in a statement published by its Amaq news agency and also issued a gruesome video of the assault.
"I am concerned about the whole international situation," Tajani said.
"Our security forces are working to prevent attacks and to protect civilians", he said.
Prior to the Moscow attack, three Palestinian jihadist suspects were arrested in Italy's central city of L'Aquila on 11 March on suspicion of plotting attacks in unspecified locations, according to police, Tajani recalled.
"We are protecting Italians and tourists by working behind the scenes," Tajani said.
Security is being tightened in Italian cities, notably Naples, and on the nearby island of Capri, where a G7 foreign ministers' summit is taking place on 17-19 April, Tajani stated on Wednesday.
