Italian premier to meet U.S. president in Washington in mid-June

ROME, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said here on Monday that he would meet U.S. President Barack Obama on June 15 in Washington for talks ahead of July's Group of Eight (G8)summit.

"I will talk with Obama about everything that will be on the G8agenda," Berlusconi told Italian radio, describing the talks as "a normal work meeting."

Italy holds this year's G8 rotating presidency and Berlusconi said that at the G8 summit leaders would talk about "a code of new rules that must regulate world financial and economic life."

Berlusconi also said that the relation between the United States and Russia is now "a deadlock," and the world is risking returning to the situation of the Cold War.

In order to avoid this, the meeting between Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev will be positive, Berlusconi said. "The collaboration between the two countries is very important."

The White House said in May that Obama would visit Moscow for the first time on July 6-8 at the invitation of Medvedev. Their meeting will be focused on nuclear weapons reduction and non-proliferation.

The Italian government approved in April a motion to change the venue of G8 summit slated for this July from the Sardinian island of La Maddalena to L'Aquila, which was hit by a devastating earthquake on April 6, in order to place the stricken region in the international spotlight and to help rebuild the region.