Ukraine-Russia war, Di Maio: “increasingly harsh sanctions in Moscow”

Ukraine-Russia war, “Italy, together with NATO allies and European partners, supports Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty, working tirelessly to end the conflict, through increasingly harsh sanctions for Russia, but, above all, through the channel of diplomacy, which has never closed “. Thus Luigi Di Maio, speaking today from Qatar, underlining that this is demonstrated by the “dense series of meetings that have taken place, in which I am attending these days. Most recently with the ministerial meetings of NATO, the G7 and the Foreign Affairs Council extraordinary of the EU “. The Foreign Minister then reiterated “the gravity and unacceptability of the Russian invasion” and “my profound closeness to the Ukrainian people”. “The invasion of Ukraine wanted by Putin and the sanctions connected to it require careful consideration of the repercussions on the energy sector, not only in Italy but in the entire European Union”, Di Maio affirmed, underlining that “yes urgently raises the need to accelerate the process of diversifying energy supply sources, a fundamental condition for guaranteeing our stability and security “. “This is why we are working in concert with the other Member States on a European energy strategy – he stressed – At the same time, Italy remains committed also on a bilateral level, as demonstrated by my recent visit to Algeria and my presence in Doha”. “By strengthening ties with Qatar, and with other countries, where I went last week, we are also making ourselves independent from any blackmail from Russian gas”, Di Maio said, adding: “We have defined an Italian energy security plan to protect our citizens and our companies. We are giving our best for our country. I am convinced that the consolidation of the energy partnership with Qatar will also bring positive developments for our companies “.” I greatly appreciated the position taken by Qatar towards Moscow “, continued the minister, concluding:” A position followed by concrete initiatives by Doha. I mention two, in order of time the support for the Ukrainian motion i n the Human Rights Council, and support for the adoption of the historic resolution condemning Russian aggression, co-sponsored by Qatar and adopted last March 2 by the United Nations General Assembly “.