The leader of Italy's far-right party, Matteo Salvini, triggered a debate on Sunday by saying that the unprecedented sanctions against Russia imposed by the West were not working.

"Several months have passed and people are paying two, three, even four times more for their bills," he told RTL radio. "And after seven months, the war continues and Russian Federation coffers are filling with money."

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Energy prices have been on the high rise since the start of the war in Ukraine, while economies in the European Union have been heavily reliant on Russian energy, which Moscow won't be providing anymore. 

During an economic forum in Cernobbio, Italy, Salvini asserted: "We need a European shield" to protect businesses and families.

Read more: Europe's push to punish Putin fails to live up to rhetoric

"If we want to go ahead with the sanctions, let's do it, we want to protect Ukraine -- but I would not want that to mean that instead of harming the sanctioned, we harm ourselves," he said.      

Salvini, a day earlier, tweeted "those who have been sanctioned are winners and those who put the sanctions in place are on their knees."    

"It's evident that someone in Europe has made a bad calculation. It is essential to rethink the strategy to save jobs and businesses in Italy," he said.      

Salvini's rival, Enrico Letta, who is the leader of the Democratic Party, remarked: "When I hear Salvini talk about sanctions, I feel like I'm listening to Putin's propaganda."      

Read more: How sanctioning Russia may be futile: The Hill