Italian deputy PM calls for return to gas purchases from Russia

ROME, April 18. /TASS/. Italian deputy prime minister, infrastructure minister and leader of the League party Matteo Salvini has reiterated his call for a return to Russian gas purchases to prevent an "energy lockdown." "Even the president of Confindustria [association of industrialists], Emanuele Orsini, said: We need to change who’s running this Europe. The brilliant proposal by [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen is a new lockdown," Salvini said while closing a Patriots for Europe rally in Milan as the leader of the League party, which is part of Italy’s ruling coalition. "The US just suspended sanctions blocking trade and purchases of Russian oil until May 16. This wasn’t done by a small former Soviet republic, but by the world’s largest democracy. If they make such decisions in Washington, they should do the same in Brussels. Instead of closing schools and factories, let’s go back to buying gas from around the world, including Russia, since we’re not at war with Russia," he said.