Italy rules out sending ships to patrol Hormuz Strait without. mandate

ROME, April 8 (Reuters) - Italy will not send any ships to help police the Hormuz Strait area following a ceasefire between the United States and Iran unless it is authorised by the United Nations, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday. "It is not on the agenda. We have already said that we will not send ships unless there is a United Nations initiative," Salvini, who is also infrastructure minister in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative government, told reporters. The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has triggered an energy crisis for the global economy by trapping large volumes of oil and gas in the Gulf after Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz to most vessels, hitting Europe and Italy particularly hard. The disruption has led some, including Salvini's far-right League party, to call on Europe to consider resuming energy purchases from Russia, which were cut off in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, Salvini backtracked on that position, saying it would not be feasible as long as the war in Ukraine continued. "I hope that a time will soon come when it will be possible to speak about reconstruction and cooperation, including partnerships and energy, once the conflict with Russia has ended," he told the Foreign Press Association in Italy. Like other NATO allies reluctant to back U.S. President Donald Trump's strikes on Iran, Italy last week denied permission for U.S. military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily en route to the Middle East. Salvini dismissed suggestions that mounting disagreements between Washington and European capitals could lead the U.S. to disengage from Europe. "I don't believe there is any imminent issue regarding NATO troop withdrawals from Europe," he said. (Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; writing by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones, Alvise Armellini and Gareth Jones)