Italy aims to become independent from Russian gas by second-half 2024

This was stated by Italy’s Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani, Reuters reports, according to Ukrinform.

“We should be autonomous by the second half of 2024, we could do without importing Russian gas,” Cingolani said in an interview with La Repubblica.

Asked about the proposed rouble payment mechanism for Russian Gas, Cingolani said that the EU Commission needs to take “a clear and unambiguous” political decision to avoid responsibility being shifted to individual governments and oil and gas companies.

As Ukrinform reported, Russia has been waging a large-scale war against Ukraine since February 24.

EU countries have imposed five packages of economic and individual sanctions against Russia. They are preparing a sixth package of restrictive measures, which could include a ban on imports of Russian energy.

The Finnish government and companies are preparing to cut off natural gas supplies from Russia as early as May.