Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said today that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him that existing gas contracts would remain in force and that European companies would continue to pay in euros and dollars, according to Reuters.
“I do not think Western countries did anything other than explain that it would be unacceptable to pay in rubles, if not impossible,” Draghi told reporters in Rome.
He went on to say that “I think there has been a process of reflection in Russia that has led to a better definition of what it means to pay in rubles, as President Putin put it yesterday.”
According to Mr. Draghi, from what he understood from the conversation he had with Putin, the conversion of payments from euros and dollars into rubles will take place internally in Russia.
“What I understood, but I may be wrong, is that the conversion of the payment… is an internal matter of the Russian Federation,” Draghi said.
In any case, when asked about the supplies from Russia, he stressed that there is no danger of them being interrupted.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Italian prime minister said that the sanctions imposed on Moscow were paying off.
Mr Draghi also said that Putin had told him that a meeting with Ukrainian President W. Zelensky was still premature and that the current situation was not enough for a ceasefire in the country.
“Putin told me that the conditions for a ceasefire are not yet suitable”
Also, as the Italian Prime Minister said in a press conference, when asked about the telephone conversation with Putin the previous day, the Russian President stated that the conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine are not yet in place.
Asked about the increase in defense spending following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Draghi said Italy would meet NATO’s target of 2% of GDP in defense spending in 2028.
He also stressed that the government’s forthcoming report on economic assessments will not include a specific increase in defense spending.
Source: Capital
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