Stefano Beltrame, ambassador to Moscow, is Salvini's former diplomatic advisor who organized his 2018 trip to Russia.

Stefano Beltrame is the new Italian ambassador to Moscow . His imminent arrival in Russia was decided by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in the Council of Ministers, a decision that immediately sparked controversy.

With a very long diplomatic career and an economics expert, so much so that since 2023 he has held the position of diplomatic advisor to the Minister of Economy, the Lega Nord member Giancarlo Giorgetti , Beltrame has in fact been in the orbit of the Carroccio for years.

Born in Verona in 1960, Veneto has held diplomatic posts in Bonn, Washington , Kuwait , and Tehran . His closeness to the League dates back to 2010, when he served as diplomatic advisor to Veneto Governor Luca Zaia for three years. He then became Consul General in Shanghai , by decision of then Foreign Minister Emma Bonino (Letta government, ed.).

This is where the real turning point came, when in the 2018-19 two-year period, during the Conte I government formed by the Five Star Movement and the League, then-Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini chose Beltrame as his diplomatic advisor. He would accompany the Northern League leader on his mission to the United States in 2019, during Donald Trump 's first presidency, but more importantly, he organized Salvini's trip to Moscow in October 2018, as part of the much-discussed relationship between the League and the Kremlin, and in particular United Russia, Vladimir Putin's party.

Between 2022 and 2023 Beltrame was promoted to ambassador to Austria , then, as mentioned, he returned to Rome as advisor to a new leading figure in the League, alongside the Minister of Economy Giorgetti, and finally in 2024 he was appointed ambassador of rank.

In this year's ambassadorial "replacement," Beltrame makes a major leap in quality: she flies to Moscow at Tajani's request, recalling diplomat Cecilia Piccioni to Rome, Italy's ambassador to Russia only since July 2024. Piccioni is promoted to head the Directorate General for Political Affairs (DGAP), a prestigious position within the limits of Tajani's very "muscular" management of the Farnesina, which is not accustomed to giving space to "technicians."

But Beltrame's nomination in Moscow seems, politically speaking, yet another manifestation of Palazzo Chigi's desire to follow the line of Donald Trump's White House , of a substantial rapprochement or in any case a "softer" attitude towards Russia , and to grant its Lega ally Salvini a name close to him for the delicate Moscow embassy.