What Draghi said about Putin, war, gas, rubles and military spending
All the details on the press conference of the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, at the headquarters of the foreign press in Rome.
Gas supplies from Russia "are not in danger".
This was stated by Prime Minister Mario Draghi during a press conference at the headquarters of the foreign press in Rome, following yesterday's telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European companies will continue to pay in euros or dollars, Putin has remarked several times that this is a concession to European companies, added Draghi.
Due to Western financial sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is considering demanding payment for its gas exports in rubles rather than the usual euros or dollars. Just Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that "hostile" countries will have to buy rubles for the currency stipulated in their contracts for subsequent purchases of Russian gas.
Yet Putin, the prime minister stressed, "told me that the existing contracts" for gas supplies "remain in force".
“We hadn't heard from Putin since before the war and I clarified the reason for the call: I want to talk about peace. I asked if and when a ceasefire, even a short one, was planned, but the conditions are not ripe, but the Mariupol corridor has been opened ", he added, explaining that for the Russian president there are" small steps forward "in the negotiations.
All the details on the press conference of Prime Minister Draghi.
GAS QUESTION
To cope with the increase in the prices of gas and energy raw materials, “the government immediately moved on various levels: the diversification of suppliers and towards renewables. We will need to increase the speed of investments in this sector, we hope to move very quickly on diversification "to replace Russian gas, explained Draghi.
Since Russia cannot sell to any other customer than Europe so there is room to set a ceiling on the price of gas and "there is no reason why the price of gas is so high for Europeans ".
Therefore, “We need a price ceiling and a breakdown of the mechanism that links the price of gas to the price of electricity”. The Prime Minister continues: "this thing must be overcome because it makes no sense that the electricity produced through hydroelectricity is sold at the price of gas".
"THE SANCTIONS WORK"
Turning to the war scenario, Draghi declared that "Sanctions work, peace can be achieved if Ukraine defends itself, otherwise peace cannot be achieved".
“If Putin has changed his attitude since the war started? The answer is complex. I think I have noticed a change, but I am cautious in the interpretation "of these" signs because the situation is evolving. I think I have noticed a change in tone, but I could not say if it is true, in a 40-minute phone call it is difficult to understand ”.
THE ROLE OF ITALY
Furthermore, our country could play a role in the peace path.
The premier explained that Italy has been "requested by Russia and Ukraine as guarantor for the implementation of any negotiation clauses".
AND THAT OF CHINA
In the context of the conflict in Ukraine, "there is a significant space for China to mediate", highlighted Draghi. On this "I have positive expectations" for the role "in the peace process". Europe is united and tomorrow's EU-China summit also serves to affirm this unity and ask China to play an active role in peace in Russia. The summit will also serve to "reach an agreement on world trade in which there is mutual recognition, non-unfair practices and protection of individual property rights", he clarified.
CONDITIONS FOR ENDING FIRE
"The conditions" on Putin's part for a ceasefire "are not ripe but the Mariupol corridor was opened, which is the news you saw today".
“I expressed my conviction – he added – that to resolve crucial issues we need a meeting with Zelensky who has been asking for it from the beginning. And Putin replied that the time is not ripe. One of Putin's points is that there are small steps forward in the negotiations ”.
Mario Draghi said this during the meeting with the foreign press referring to the interview with the head of the Kremlin.
Responding to a question, Draghi said "that he noticed a change in Putin's tone" during yesterday's phone call "but I don't know if it's true: I am cautious in interpreting these signs". Speaking of the negotiations, he added that "the exact content of these guarantees" required for peace in Ukraine "is still too early to define because it will depend on the negotiations".
DRAGHI: SOON TO TALK ABOUT A MEETING BETWEEN PUTIN AND ZELENSKY
The premier said he had told Putin "that a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was necessary to resolve certain crucial issues and the answer was that the time is not yet ripe".
THE IMPORTANCE OF NATO
After that, Draghi underlined that “Helping Ukraine and showing us so united and united in the war is also defending the multilateral order, the rules that have accompanied us since the end of the second war and have given democracy, peace and well-being. Multilateralism must adapt like globalization but it does not stop: we defend these values with conviction ”. "Multilateralism is defending peace, NATO is multilateral".
A COMMON EUROPEAN DEFENSE IS NECESSARY
At this point, the Prime Minister highlighted that building a "European defense" is fundamental to building "a political union. The construction of European defense is the most important step because it involves accepting to have a common foreign policy. It means that we will all be allies forever in the future and this would be the greatest goal ever achieved ”.
A common defense "means that we will be allies forever in the future and this would be the already great goal never achieved", he added. It is necessary to proceed “immediately a coordination on defense: who spends, how much spends. We must ask the Commission "to start" from there, otherwise we are not serious and we do not talk about it anymore. We must not take it lightly ”.
There is no specific indication of military or other expenses in the Economic and Financial Document (Def), added Draghi. On military spending "there is no disagreement" in the majority, he said.
Finally, “We have agreed that France, Italy and Turkey see each other, on peace negotiations in Ukraine but also to strengthen trade relations. We will have a meeting in the next few weeks ”concluded Draghi.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/draghi-putin-gas-rubli/ on Thu, 31 Mar 2022 12:46:45 +0000.