Thursday, 9 July 2009 Russia welcomes a proposal to hold a second Group of Eight summit in the central Italian town of L'Aquila later this year, a Kremlin aide said on Thursday.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi earlier said a second G8 summit could be held in the quake-stricken mountain town before the end of the year.
"The idea is good. If other [nations] agree, we will support it," Sergei Prikhodko said.
The official said however the date for the proposed summit had yet to be agreed on. A G20 summit has been scheduled for September in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh.
Italy's decision to move the summit to L'Aquila to boost local reconstruction has come under widespread criticism as aftershocks continue. Italian seismologists registered 15 tremors with magnitudes ranging from 1 to 2.8 on the Richter scale on Wednesday.
April's powerful earthquake, one of the largest earthquakes to hit Italy in 30 years, killed almost 300 people and left another 1,500 people injured and about 50,000 people homeless.
Berlusconi has come under pressure in Western media over the summit's last-minute preparations, delays to rebuilding work in the quake-hit province, and the country's failure to fulfill previous summit pledges on foreign aid.
After making a tour of ruined historic buildings in L'Aquila, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged financial support from Moscow for a project to restore the 18th century Ardinghelli Palace and an 11th century church.
Experts believe restoration work on the two buildings will cost some 3.4 million euros ($4.7 mln) and 3.8 million euros ($5.3 mln), respectively. |
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Ria Novosti
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