ROME

In a day-long visit to Algeria’s capital, Italian Premier Mario Draghi on Monday sealed 15 agreements in key sectors of cooperation with the African country, including the increase of gas supplies necessary to face a possible cut in Russian gas.

The visit came at a particularly difficult time for Draghi, who’s facing a government crisis at home, after one of his main coalition partners walked out ahead of a key confidence vote last Thursday.

The Italian delegation in Algeria included six ministers, who signed joint agreements spanning from energy and renewables sectors, to industrial development, justice and pharmaceutics.

As Draghi stressed in joint declarations with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algeria holds a key role in Rome’s efforts to reduce its dependence from Russian gas and diversify its energy sources.

In the last few months, Algeria has become the first supplier of gas for Italy, Draghi said Last week, Algerian energy giant Sonatrach announced a 4 billion cubic-meter increase in planned supplies for the months ahead.

All European countries are trying to reduce their imports of Russian gas amid fears that Moscow could block its gas supplies in retaliation for the European sanctions imposed due to the Ukrainian war.