Italy will "follow the decisions of the European Union" on new sanctions against Russia, including a possible gas embargo, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Wednesday.
"It is not a possibility being discussed at the moment, but the situation is constantly evolving," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Italy is highly dependent on Russian gas, importing 95 percent of the gas it consumes, of which around 40 percent comes from Russia.
"Today the gas embargo is not yet... on the table," Draghi said.
The growing number of "massacres" in Ukraine "is prompting us to adopt even tougher sanctions," he said.
"All the allied countries are wondering what can be done to stop Russia... We are following what the European Union decides."
"If we are offered a gas embargo, we will follow the EU down this path, we want the most effective instrument to achieve peace," he said.
He pledged that "if gas supplies were to stop today, we would be covered until the end of October with our reserves, there would be no consequences".
The former ECB chief also called for a ceiling on gas prices.
"I have been asking for some time to put a ceiling on the price of gas, that would be the most rational thing at the collective, European level."
"The EU has extraordinary power in the market, it is in fact the only buyer," he said.
This power "can be exercised through the establishment of a price that is remunerative but not extravagant like the one we have now.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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