Ukraine: Italy's position won't change says Salvini

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 23 - Italy's position on Ukraine won't change if the centre right is elected on September 25, League leader Matteo Salvini said Tuesday.
    "On Ukraine the League will do what the other democratic and Western countries do," the nationalist leader told the annual meeting of the Catholic lay organization Communion and Liberation (CL) Tuesday.
    "Whichever way the elections go Italy's international placement won't change".
    Salvini, whose League has had relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party since 2017, has condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine.
    The other members of the centre right coalition, the far right Brothers of Italy (FdI) of likely next premier Giorgia Meloni and the centre right Forza Italia (FI) party of three-time ex-premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, have also been vocal in their pro-NATO and pro-EU stance on the Ukraine war.
    This was despite Meloni, tipped to become Italy's first post-fascist and first woman premier, being the only major leader in opposition to outgoing Premier Mario Draghi, whose policies on supplying arms to Kyiv were unwavering.
    The centre left Democratic Party has accused Salvini, who has lauded Putin and once sported a t-shirt with his face on, and Berlusconi, an old personal friend of the Russian leader, of potentially weakening the Western front of sanctions against Russia's invasion of its former neighbour.
    But the two leaders have frequently reiterated their stand against Putin's unilateral decision to invade Ukraine.
    Salvini on Tuesday added that he would not like to see Western sanctions fuelling the war.
    "You have to look at the numbers on sanctions on Russia," he said.
    "Russia's trade surplus is 70 billion dollars, and for the first time in history the sanctioned is gaining (from the sanctions).
    "I ask to assess the usefulness of the instrument: if it works let's go ahead but if it is working in the opposite direction we risk going on for 10 years: a tool that was supposed to dissuade Putin ends up favouring his economy.
    "I wouldn't like it if the sanctions were fuelling the war. I hope that they are reflecting on this in Brussels".
    Centre-left Democratic Party leader and former premier Enrico Letta responded by saying that no signs of easing up on sanctions should be given to Putin, who was blackmailing Italy and the rest of Europe with Russian gas supplies.
    "The worst thing that you can do is give signs of concessions to Putin: on this Italy must be very clear, maintain its alliances, and not change line," Letta told the CL gathering in Rimini.
    "To do that would be to give in to Putin who is blackmailing Italy and the EU.
    "You don't respond to blackmail by giving in to it".
    Letta added that Italy must immediately cap the price of energy, a move it is trying to get the EU to also take.
    "Italy must immediately intervene with a cap on the cost of energy linked to a period of administered prices," the ex premier told CL.
    "We can do that immediately. Moving to a system of administered prices for the next 12 months".
    The Italian government has been working hard to end the nation's reliance on Russian gas since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, reaching and preparing a series of agreements to boost supplies from elsewhere.
    The proportion of Italy's gas supplied by Moscow has already fallen from 40% at the start of the conflict to around 25% now, sources said recently.
    Algeria's share has risen to over 30%.
    The Italian government has "moved rapidly" to diversify suppliers by scrambling to set up alternatives with countries like Algeria, Angola, Congo, Libya, Egypt, Israel and Mozambique, Premier Draghi said recently.
    Fuels giant Eni recently joined the world's largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Qatar, and on Monday announced a highly significant gas find off Cyprus.
    Draghi has secured from the EU a pledge to discuss a proposal on an energy price cap next month. (ANSA).