Firebrand deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini told a press conference in Moscow he would work to ensure sanctions imposed by the EU after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 are lifted.

Rebellious Hungary and the current incumbents of the European Council’s rotating presidency are mounting pressure on the Brussels leadership to do more business with Moscow.

Mr Salvini hopes the process can be kickstarted through “good manners, numbers and the art of democracy”, however, is happy to go further than his predecessors and is “not scared” of using vetoes to force the situation.

The League leader expressed his willingness to see Russia brought back into the “European family” and praised Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s Helsinki summit as a “wonderful start” to the process.

He had held talks with ministers and executives in the Russian capital, without giving any further details on the discussions.

The Italian said: “We hope we will be able to convince other governments with democracy and convincing numbers.

“Vetoes are only a last resort but I am not excluding anything.”

Brussels imposed sanctions on Russia and kicked it out of the G8 group of leading nations in response to the country’s actions in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.

Mr Salvini has long declared Itay is the biggest loser from the EU measures, but is not the only EU leader who has vented frustrations about Russian sanctions.

On Sunday, Hungary’s eurosceptic prime minister Mr Orban also denounced the EU’s sanctions regime on Moscow.

He said: “Because of these measures we are losing opportunities.

“If there were no sanctions, we would be able to cooperate and make greater advances.”

While Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has affirmed support for the EU’s position after meetings with Mr Putin, one of his deputies has strayed away from the Brussels position.

In June, Heinz-Chrstian Stratche has pushed for sanctions on Moscow to be ended.

He said: “It is high time to put an end to these exasperating sanctions and normalise political and economic relations with Russia.”

Mr Stratche, Austria’s vice-chancellor is the leader of the country’s right-wing FPO, the junior partner in Mr Kurz’s conservative coalition government.