At the St. Petersburg forum, Italy, despite having done much to waste it in recent years, confirms its privileged role as interlocutor with Moscow.
The ideal bridge launched with Rome and indirectly with the Union, however, is thrown just as the cold shower comes from Brussels: on pressure from Washington the EU sanctions against Russia are extended until the 2017.
The feeling is that everything happens reluctantly and that a demiurge outside the direct Brussels-Moscow confrontation ends up taking advantage of it. It is no coincidence that the US slice of Russia's foreign trade has exceeded 4%, while European countries' partnerships have diminished: general traffic between Europe and Russia since the beginning of sanctions has been reduced by 100 billion euros and everyone seems to be aware of it.
The Italian government in St. Petersburg took the opportunity to highlight the economic and geopolitical discomfort linked to the sanctions but also the impotence in front of something that must be done without anyone, or almost, being interested.
The official reason for the extension of the sanctions is once again linked to the annexation of Crimea and to what is considered a deliberate destabilization of Ukraine by Moscow. In March 2015 EU leaders decided to tie the sanctions regime to the implementation of Minsk agreements, materialized at the end of the year.
The restrictive measures were however progressive. Russia has been suspended from the G8 and negotiations for membership of the OSCE.
In July, 2014 began counter-measures to economic cooperation, limiting access to the Union's capital markets by the five largest Russian financial institutions and six large Russian companies active in the energy and defense sectors. The measures impose a ban on import-export for the arms trade; establish an export ban on dual-use items for military use or for military end-users in Russia; limit Russian access to some technologies that can be used in the oil sector. 
The European Investment Bank has also suspended new financing operations in the Federation. Many bilateral cooperation programs have been re-examined and blocked.
Despite the growing discontent in the EU, the European Council has extended the economic sanctions for the first time until 31 July 2016. From these hours the further renewal whose echo will be particularly controversial (albeit muted).
Russia for its part responds by returning the charges to the sender. While on the front of the Donbass he claims that someone is blowing on the fire by arming Kiev, with regard to the Crimea, he goes straight. As one of the 83 federal subjects (one of the 22 republics to be exact) Crimea has once again become part of the Nation and Moscow does not seem willing to back down. On the contrary, work is proceeding at full speed on the Kerch bridge, the 20 km autoferroviaria strip that will unite the peninsula to the mainland without considering Ukraine anymore. It will be inaugurated in the 2019.
Precisely in the days when false papers are being made to prevent the exit of Britain from the Union, the Union questions itself as to what it is and what interests it is defending. If not, it would be time to start doing it.
(photo: ВСРФ/ Web)
