Italy must stop buying Russian gas ‘soon’: minister

Roberto Cingolani, Italy’s Ecological Transition Minister, said Thursday that the country is morally obligated to stop purchasing Russian gas “soon” because the payments are fueling the conflict in Ukraine.

“I think that we will have to stop supplies of gas from Russia soon for ethical reasons,” he told the newspaper La Stampa.

In an effort to lessen Italy’s reliance on Russian gas, the minister is currently on a two-day trip to Angola and the Congo Republic to seek energy arrangements.

He remarked, “We are diversifying our sources with great speed.”

“It is clear that all of Europe is heavily dependent on Russia for gas, and this has been a major geopolitical mistake made over the past 20 years,” he said.

“It is useless to think that we can solve it in a month. From a certain point of view, however, this money is a lot… we are indirectly financing the war.”

He anticipated that within 18 months, the country would no longer rely on Russia’s supply of natural gas.

He had previously predicted that it would take up to three years.

“By the second half of next year we will really begin to have an almost complete independence,” he told La Stampa.

Currently, Italy consumes 42 percent of its energy from gas, and it imports 95 percent of the gas it consumes from other countries.

Earlier this month, deals were reached with Algeria and Egypt, paving the way for the expansion into those two countries.

Additionally, the government is preparing a so-called “operation thermostat,” which could see the public sector required to use less heating or air conditioning, and the general people urged to do so, as well.

Also Read

Marine Le Pen opposes Russian gas sanctions

Marine Le Pen, a leading candidate for the French presidency, has stated...