Abstract: This article discusses the key vectors of humanitarian cooperation between Russia and the European Union in the area of science in the first quarter of the XXI century. Italy as the EU member-state with high scientific capacity manifests as a direct subject for the analysis of peculiarities of this cooperation. The selected chronology is substantiated by the fact that most intensive cooperation between Russia and EU in humanitarian sphere falls on that period. Determination of the key vectors of cooperation between Russia and Italy in the XXI century allows tracing the dynamics of Russia-EU relations in the indicated field at the current stage. The scientific novelty is defined by the absence of research dedicated to international cooperation of Russia and Italy. The following conclusions are formulated: 1) since 2012 there is observed a certain decline in the intensity of scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and EU due to political contradictions that aggravated after 2014; 2) at the same time, the foundation formed in the previous decades allowed transferring the scientific and technical cooperation from the political level into the practical, namely to the sphere of direct interaction between the Russian scholars from the EU member-states (including Italian); 3) a crucial role was played by the nonprofit sector and large enterprises that are interested in the advancement of innovations; 4) therefore, namely the contacts between universities, research centers, innovation organizations, and scholars may become the foundation for the development of comprehensive cooperation between Russia and the European Union. The obtained experience demonstrates that many crucial steps in this direction have already been taken.