(Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Vladimir Putin is engaging in “extreme blackmail” that requires a “swift, firm, united reaction” after the Russian president put his country's nuclear forces on high alert.
Draghi said that Putin's warning last week that those who obstruct Russia's invasion of Ukraine would face “consequences that you have never encountered in your history” constituted a threat to Europeans.
“Tolerating a war of aggression against a European sovereign state would mean putting at risk, perhaps irreversibly, peace and security in Europe,” Draghi said. “We cannot let this happen.”
Speaking to the Italian parliament in Rome Tuesday, Draghi said he is open to further sanctions against Russia and that those already in place were being extended to Belarus.
Draghi suggested further measures targeting Russian tycoons by creating an international register of those with assets worth more than 10 million euros ($11.2 million).
The former central banker also proposed increasing the pressure on Russia's central bank by ensuring that the Bank for International Settlements participates in the sanctions.
The Basel-based institution on Monday said it doesn't discuss the relationships it has with other central banks but that it “will follow sanctions and we will not be an avenue for sanctions to be circumvented.”
The prime minister also said that, while there are no signs for now of an interruption of gas flows from Russia, Italy must plan for the risk of retribution or of a further tightening of sanctions.
Read More: Italy Ready to Curb Natural Gas Use If Russia Cuts Supplies
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