Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini will visit Washington D.C. on Monday to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and discuss bilateral partnership in global issues, Xinhua reported.
According to foreign ministry sources, talks will focus on the fight against terrorism and the delicate situations in Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen.
The meeting between Frattini and Clinton is thus expected to anticipate many of the topics which will be at the center of the upcoming international conference on Afghanistan to take place in London on Jan. 27-28.
The Italian foreign minister has repeatedly stressed that the bilateral partnership was strong and on many issues the two countries has similar positions, adding that the U.S. represented an important ally for Italy.
The U.S. ambassador to Rome David Thorne on Friday praised the good state of diplomatic relations, saying that the United States had no better partner than Italy.
"Italy has been by our side in difficult moments," he said, adding that the two countries shared common views on international issues including Afghanistan, Iran, climate change, Africa, piracy and Somalia.
The ambassador made his remarks during a meeting with the secretary general of the Italian Foreign Ministry, Giampiero Massolo.
With regard to Italy's position towards Iran, Massolo observed that the Italian government was working together with the international community to reach a UN resolution aimed at blocking the Iranian nuclear program.