Meloni Says It's 'Too Early' to Tap Russian Gas

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said it was too early to consider tapping Russian gas despite the Iran war driving up energy prices and squeezing supply.

“I keep hoping that when the problem might come up in earnest, that is in January 2027, we’ll have been able to make progress in bringing peace to Ukraine,” Meloni told reporters in Verona Tuesday. “We mustn’t forget that the economic pressure we have exerted on Russia is in the end the strongest weapon we have to build peace.”  

Meloni was responding to remarks by Claudio Descalzi, the chief executive officer of oil giant Eni SpA, who said Sunday that plans to ban the import of liquefied natural gas from Russia should be suspended. Italy is highly dependent on gas for its energy needs, and the war in Iran has had a knock-on effect four years into Russia’s war with Ukraine.

“We must be very careful in how we move from this point of view,” Meloni said. “It’s too early to talk about this dynamic.”

Meloni, who has been on the defensive since losing a key referendum last month, is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Rome on Wednesday. 

Italy has been particularly exposed to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for gas, among other commodities, shuttered by the US and Israeli war on Iran. In response, she has flown to Algeria to seek more gas supplies and toured war-hit suppliers in the Gulf in a diplomatic charm offensive. 

Few across Italy’s political spectrum back an immediate resumption of Russian gas purchases, even if the war in Iran squeezes supply. Last week, former Premier Giuseppe Conte told Bloomberg News that Europe shouldn’t resume buying Russian gas until an “honorable” peace deal is reached for Ukraine.

Meloni reiterated calls for European Union budget rules to be suspended for the bloc as governments contend with spiraling energy prices and tight national budgets. The government has extended a fuel tax cut until May 1. “It would be an enormous mistake to move too late,” she said.

Asked about Donald Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV, the premier reiterated his remarks were unacceptable. “We try to do with the can in the context we have,” she said. “When you have allies and particularly when they are strategic you must have the courage to say you disagree.”

“The remarks on the Pope were unacceptable. I have expressed my solidarity” for him, she said. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a society in which religious leaders do what they’re told by political leaders, at least not in this part of the world.”