From RIA Novsoti:  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are holding a meeting on the outskirts of the Russian southern city of Sochi as a part of the seventh round of Russian-Italian extended intergovernmental talks.

The presidents are meeting in the Russian ski resort of Krasnaya Polyana and are expected to give a joint press-conference later in the day.

From RIA Novsoti:  Russia will buy 10 Lynx light multi-role armored vehicles (LMV) from Italy’s Iveco, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Friday.

He said Russia would like to set up a joint venture to assemble LMVs in Russia after the purchase.

Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa confirmed the country’s readiness to transfer production technology for LMV manufacturing in Russia and their subsequent sales to CIS states, Serdyukov’s press secretary Irina Kovalchuk said.

From RIA Novsoti:  Russia and Italy will hold joint naval and ground force exercises in 2011, Russian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Irina Kovalchuk said on Friday. …

The venues and timeframes for the drills will be announced later.  (photo: Getty)

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