(Finance) – “I come here with a small, big victory, bigger than small: in Europe we managed to win on the gas price ceiling. It is a battle that many gave up as doomed and we brought it home. The will and awareness always starts from one thing: being aware of who you are and being proud of who you are. When you have that awareness, you have the ability to tell something more and to teach and learn from others”. That’s what she said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about theagreement on the price cap reached at the Energy Council.
The agreement represents a victory for Italy which could also hit Moscow’s coffers. “It is an unacceptable agreement that creates distortion in the market, we will react,” thundered the Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov announcing – according to what Russian agencies report – “a reaction” from the Russian side, such as the decision taken on oil.
There Russia’s response the introduction by the EU of a “ceiling” on gas prices will be taken after having analyzed the situation and – as also confirmed by the Russian Energy Minister, Nikolai – will be similar to the price cap response on oil.
Still today the Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Ria Novosti reports, after the meeting with the Belarusian counterpart Lukashenko, he affirmed that Russia and Belarus are fighting the sanctions together and are doing it effectively. “Together,” he said Putin – we resist sanctions pressure from hostile states, attempts to isolate Russia and Belarus from global markets, coordinate measures to minimize the impact of illegal restrictive measures on the economies of our countries. I have to say we are doing it quite safely and effectively.”