The meeting took place at the Roman Villa Doria Pamphili. Vladimir Putin was accorded military honours. The Italian navy provided an honour guard. The Italian navy band played the anthems of the two countries and the Italian navy march.
The Italian Prime Minister and the Russian President talked one-to-one for about an hour before heading for the official Italian cabinet residence at the Quigi Palace for inter-state consultations between the delegations of the two countries. Taking part in the talks on the Russian side were Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kurdrin, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi, Education Minister Vladimir Filippov, Energy Minister Igor Yusufov, Information Technology and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman, Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiyev, and the Governors of the Sverdlovsk and Ryazan Regions, Eduard Rossel and Vyacheslav Lyubimov.
The participants in the consultations discussed various aspects of trade, economic, political and cultural cooperation, the prospects of simplifying the visa regime and more active contacts between the civil societies of Russia and Italy. An exchange of views took place on topical international issues, including the situation in the Middle East, Iraq and around Iran as well as the relations between Russia and the European Union.
Based on the results of the talks Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi adopted a joint statement on bilateral cooperation. The Russian President and the Italian Prime Minister looked on as members of the delegations signed 10 inter-governmental documents, including agreements on cooperation in the disposing of chemical weapons stockpiles in Russia, disposing of Russian nuclear submarines decommissioned from the navy and safe handling of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, as well as other documents on various aspects of bilateral partnership.
The Russian head of state and the Italian Prime Minister held a joint press conference. The two leaders commented on the results of the consultations and answered questions from the media, in particular about the situation around the Yukos oil company, the prospects of post-war settlement in Iraq and the participation of European partners in the process of peaceful settlement in the Chechen Republic.