Diplomacy of A.А. Gromyko in the Context of the Soviet-Italian Relations in 60–80s

Thе article considers some key episodes of Andrej A. Gromyko’s diplomacy, as the Minister of foreign affairs of the USSR, in the sphere of the Soviet-Italian relations in the 60–80s. The main attention is focused on such aspect of his work as cooperation of the USSR and Italy in establishment of the European collective security system. Under examination are the visits of A. A. Gromyko to Rome in 1966 and 1970 which were important links in the preparatory process for the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (СSCE) and in the development of bilateral Soviet-Italian relations. The source corpus of the article contains secret documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union published in Italian language, official documents edited by the Ministries of foreign affairs of USSR and Italy, and the memoirs of the diplomat as well. Analysis of these sources allowed to evaluate personal contribution of A. A. Gromyko to the development of Soviet-Italian relations and to reveal some principles of his work dealt with adjustment of a peace dialogue between the USSR and Italy. Among his achievements there was launching of the Soviet project of the CSCE in the course of the negotiation process with Italy. As the result of his efforts contacts between the USSR and Italy went beyond the channels within the communist parties of both countries, and the Soviet-Italian relations advanced to higher level in different spheres. Besides, agreement between two countries on some important issues of international relations was achieved. The author believes that the principles put in the basis of the Soviet-Italian relations by of A. A. Gromyko retain their relevance in the modern international context.