If he let others know he met him, what is the problem? I would need more context for this meeting.
Did they meet and he wasn't aware at the time he was KGB? Did they meet with full understanding and approval by government for a specific nefarious issue that of the shady world of geopolitics that sometimes forces you to speak to adversaries?
The fact they met in Italy could have been to skirt British laws and might even upset some allies depending on the purpose ad secrecy of the meeting. Worse, if that meeting now puts others at risks, say for instance, Russian or Italian officials could look back at the timeline and say "wait a minute, there is no official record of our comrade being in Italy at that time..."
This is why as a world leader, you have to be fully cognizant of your words when revealing such details of what impact it might have on relations or others. I call it being "Street Smart". I haven't always followed my own advice in life, but I've done so with purpose.
He is a global leader and I don't see his purpose for being overly transparent publicly on this issue unless maybe something is amiss.
