The Russian embassy in Italy announces that it "assisted Matteo Salvini and the people who accompanied him in the purchase of airline tickets" for his trip to Moscow scheduled for
29 May
.
A necessary assistance for the "sanctions" that have suspended the Rome-Moscow connections and make it difficult to purchase Aeroflot tickets from Europe.
After the cancellation of the trip "
we have been returned the amount spent: we see nothing illegal
", continues the Russian embassy "in relation to the news in some Italian media".
In Moscow "they were ready to meet the Italian representative at the appropriate level".
"As you know - states the Russian Embassy in Italy in a note - Matteo Salvini's trip was scheduled for May 29 last year. In Moscow, as we previously communicated, they were ready to meet the Italian representative at the appropriate level.
due to EU sanctions,
direct flights on the Rome-Moscow route were suspended, it was necessary for the Italian delegation to purchase air tickets for an Aeroflot flight from Istanbul to Moscow. against this airline, it is difficult to buy tickets for its flights from the territory of the European Union ".
"The Embassy - he adds - assisted Matteo Salvini and the people who accompanied him in buying the plane tickets they needed
in rubles through a Russian travel agency
. Since Matteo Salvini's trip to Moscow did not take place. for well-known reasons, in the end we were returned the equivalent of the amount spent on the purchase of airline tickets in euros (with respective supporting documents) ".
"We see nothing illegal in all these actions. As for the speculations on the names of specific employees of the Embassy, we consider them absolutely inadequate", concludes the statement.