Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi: West should know the truth

The truth about South Ossetian war should be revealed - Berlusconi
The West should know the truth about the war in South Ossetia, said the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. Solutions to tackling the global financial crisis were another important issue on the agenda between the two.

During the talks the sides agreed that a new financial architecture with collective decision-making should be a proper response to the global financial crisis.

Dmitry Medvedev said: "Certainly, we spoke of the global financial crisis as well. Here we are unanimous in our view: we all need a new financial architecture. The one that exists today is not meeting its goals. The result of it is the capital planetary financial-economic disruption which occurred and which is still continuing today."

"The main thing is to adopt proper collective mechanisms and to establish joint responsibility for the circulation, for the operation of global finance."

Another important issue was Russia-EU relations after the war in South Ossetia in August.

Medvedev said the conflict in the Caucuses should not affect the cooperation between Russia and the European Union.

Silvio Berlusconi replied that he also sees no obstacles for signing the new Russia-EU deal.

The Italian PM stressed that the West should be told the truth about the war in South Ossetia.

He said: “I thank President Medvedev for appreciating Italy’s position concerning the Ossetian conflict. This position was based on knowledge of the facts. And I think these facts should help the international community understand what really happened and overcome the disinformation that took opinion far from reality.”

The sides also discussed the current U.S. elections and the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

"We hope the new U.S. president will be a successful leader capable of building proper domestic and foreign policy and lay solid foundations for relations between Russia and the U.S.," Dmitry Medvedev said.

Meanwhile the Italian PM described Obama as “young, handsome,” and with a “good tan”.