ROME, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Italian President Giorgio Napolitano met with the visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney here on Monday for a discussion on a broad range of issues including the crisis in Georgia.

    The talks also focused on the European Union's foreign and defense polices and the common ground between United States and EU positions on foreign policy issues, Italian News Agency ANSA reported on Monday.

    The Cheney came to Italy at the end of a four-nation tour which also took him to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

    Cheney, who is set to meet with Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday, has been in Italy since the weekend and there has been some speculation on the duration of his stay.

    The daily Corriere della Sera on Saturday cited authoritative reports that while in Italy Cheney would meet secretly with Iranian envoys in a bid to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran.

    According to the daily, which used as its source the American think-tank Strafor, said to be close to the CIA, the United States and Iran both want to improve relations in the wake of Russia's invasion of Georgia which changed the political balance in the region.

    Relations between the two countries deteriorated over Iran's nuclear ambitions and its repeated verbal attacks on Israel.

    On Saturday, Cheney addressed the Ambrosetti Forum on Lake Comoin northern Italy where he warned Europeans against what he claims Moscow's intention to restore the influence it had as the Soviet Union.