French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen visited the Russian President yesterday in Moscow. Le Pen Friday called for better relations with Moscow, and an end to sanctions. This time, both Le Pen and Putin's spokesmen were quick to state that money didn't come up. Salvini's party is not expected to win more than 10 percent of votes in the next national election in Italy, but he, by many accounts, is a player in Italian politics. Some suggest Russia, isolated from much of Europe, may just be seeking alliances where it can, and trying to insert the argument for lifting sanctions into the European debate.

Source: Fox News March 26, 2017 14:15 UTC