Leaders from more than 50 Asian and European countries are in Milan today for a two-day Asia-Europe Summit. Russian President Vladmir Putin is expected to meet his Ukrainian counterpart on Friday. Among the participants are Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Italy, France, and the U.K. CCTV America’s Roee Ruttenberg reports.

At the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) the leaders of France and Italy insisted that Europe’s priority should be stimulus spending rather than a crackdown on their deficits.

“Re-launching growth is the best way of stabilizing the markets. We are out of the most severe phase of the euro zone crisis, but Europe has not got back on to a path of growth. It is living through a phase of stagnation.” said French President Francois Hollande.

But Merkel disagreed.

“All, and I underline all, member states must fully respect the rules of the Growth and Stability Pact. These rules have to be applied credibly in all member states.” she said.

While economic cooperation is the focus, participants also admit the meetings on the sidelines are just as important.

China’s Premier Li Keqiang met with his counterparts from Greece and Thailand and vowed to push for more bilateral projects. Li also met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, vowing to resolve their maritime dispute. Li said relations between the two countries had “come back on track.”

The same might not be said about the EU and Russia. Merkel met with Ukraine’s President and vowed to back sanctions against Moscow while simultaneously pursuing dialogue.

Speaking in Belgrade before traveling to Milan, Russian President Vladmir Putin called the sanctions absurd.

“Those who are trying to complicate our economy and our lives are complicating things for themselves.” he said.

European leaders said they want an end to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. They also want backing from Asian countries, and they’re hoping to use this summit to convince them.

Italy’s Finance Minister discusses future of Italian economy

As Italy plays host to the Asia Europe Leaders Summit, it has plenty of economic problems at home. The country’s economy hasn’t grown since the second quarter of 2011 and was only able to crawl out of recession this quarter by posting zero-percent growth.

Looking ahead, the government is expecting its third straight year of recession this year and just 0.6 percent growth next year. Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan took on the challenge of fixing Italy’s economy in February of this year. CCTV America’s Shraysi Tandon interviewed him about challenges to Italy’s growth.