During his visit to Moscow on Wednesday, premier Giuseppe Conte invited Russia's president Vladimir Putin to visit Italy "in the near future", the Tass news agency reported.
"I would very much like you to visit Italy in the near future," Tass quoted Conte as telling Putin at the start of their meeting.
"You haven't visited for a long while. I would not like the Italian people to think you are not giving them due attention," Conte quipped.
Underlining how Russia and Italy have managed to maintain "very constructive" relations over the years, Conte said one of the objectives of his visit was to take a fresh look at ways of further strengthening these ties.
Russia should be allowed to re-join the G8 group of nations and international economic sanctions slapped on the country after its 2014 invasion of Crimea should be lifted, Conte said on Monday, ahead of his visit to Moscow.
