'Shield' to replace Russia sanctions says Salvini

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 5 - The European Union should put up a shield to protect Europeans and Italians from the blow-back of sanctions on Russia for the Ukraine war rather than keeping sanctions on Moscow in place, rightwing League party leader Matteo Salvini said Monday.
    Salvini says that, rather than hurting Russia, the sanctions are hurting the countries levying them amid spiralling energy costs.
    He is calling for the EU to mitigate the effects sanctions are having at home rather than on Moscow.
    "In place of sanctions, which were supposed to hurt the Russians, it would be better to protect the Italians and Europeans with a shield, a parachute," Salvini said on the stump for the September 25 general election in the northern town of Bolzano.
    "The only emergency in this moment are electricity and gas bills.
    "It is serious that one side of politics does not understand this," he said referring primarily to the centre left.
    "It is a continental and national problem".
    Centre left Democratic Party (PD) leader Enrico Letta has accused Salvini of being "irresponsible" and risking jeopardizing Italy's international credibility by calling for a break with allies over sanctions on Russia.
    He has said that Salvini, who has in the past expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin but until recently has fully backed sanctions on Moscow, of becoming "pro-Putin" again.
    Salvini's main partner in the centre right alliance that looks like winning the elections and placing her in the premiership, Giorgia Meloni of the conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, has assured international observers that, whatever Salvini says, a centre right government would stick to the EU and NATO line on sanctions against Putin.
    Italian and European power bills have skyrocketed as Moscow periodically turns off gas supplies to Europe.
    Italy is pivoting away from Russian supplies but there fears that firms may have to close and power rationing begin this winter, or even the autumn.
    If Russia turns off gas to Italy completely there will be rationing from January, a top Italian think tank said Friday.
    "If Russia turned off the gas tap today, with stocks at 83%, at the start of January we will be forced to ration consumption," Davide Tabarelli, president of Nomisma Energia, told ANSA.
    "But it would be a good thing to start even earlier, so as not to have to heavily cut gas in the coldest months," he said.
    (ANSA).