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.
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