>> this is dw news live in berlin. europe's looming energy crisis. member states are told to use less gas to avert we use this winter as brussels warns russia is using energy supplies as a weapon. also on the program, russia raises the stakes in ukraine. former foreign minister sergey lavrov says moscow's aims extend beyond the eastern donbas

region, seen of the heaviest fighting. italy's prime minister wins a confidence vote in parliament, but mario draghi may still be on the way out. three key coalition parties refused to back him. scientists say europe's heatwave is a wake-up call meaning there is worse to come. i am nicole frolich. to our viewers on pbs and around the world, welcome. in the midst of a sweltering heat wave, europe is already bracing for a looming winter gas crisis. member states are being told to reduce gas consumption by 15% until next march. russian president vladimir putin is warning supplies sent to the nord stream i pipeline, already

reduced significantly, could be cut off completely. >> the european commission has asked eu citizens to use less warm water, switch off the lights and turn down the heat and air conditioning to prepare for a winter without rushing gas. >> russia is blackmailing. russia is using energy as a weapon and therefore, in any event, whether it is a partial major cut off of russian gas or a total cut off, europe needs to be ready. >> and order to be ready, ursula von der leyen had one big message -- everyone in europe has to save energy starting now. >> the eu is asking all member countries to reduce their gas use by 15%, first on a voluntary basis, then, in case of severe gas shortages, it could become mandatory.

it is a scenario the eu commission hopes to avoid. >> if we do nothing, one thing is sure, we will have shortfalls. they will not just affect the countries where the shortfalls happen. they will affect every member state because they will have serious consequences. >> energy solidarity among eu members is set to become a big topic in europe once it gets colder, but it is not at all clear all 27 states will get in line. they are not all equally dependent on russian gas and face different levels of emergency. >> we have seen hungary closing down their energy market border, not allowing flow out of the country of gas. ifhis becomes an action taken out by other governments, if countries start to close down their energy markets, we will be

in trouble. >> because the you won't be able to draw on enough energy sources -- the eu won't be able to draw on enough energy sources by the winter despite new sources of liquefied natural gas and efforts to boost renewables and imports from countries like azerbaijan. storage levels are far below the eu's minimum target of 80%. after a hot summer, a tough winter is looming. >> so could this proposal see some eu countries shutting down some of their industries to secure gas supplies for households in others? i asked our correspondent in brussels. >> theoretically, this could be possible, but thiss not the asure that the eu is aiming for. the main focus lies on saving energy, 15%, every country

has to save it, and this should be stored in underground storage to use it in the winter to be prepared and avoid any shortages for households or industry. the priorities haven't changed in the plan. households and vulnerable infrastructure like hospitals will get gas first, then industry, and then they will cut off things like trade fairs and everything connected to that to save gas, and gas shall also not be used to produce electric power. this should be done by coal and also by oil and nuclear energy. >> ursula von der leyen says this plan heavily depends on the solidarity of member states. we briefly heard of viktor orban of hungary -- we briefly heard from viktor orban of hunry. is he and everyone else on board? >> they are not on board. hungary excluded any exchange of

gas supplies with neighboring countries and hungary is not the only one skeptical. other countries that are not so dependent on russian gas ask why should we save gas? why should we supply our gas we get from norway or algeria or something to other countries? so this will be a big discussion amongst the member states, but the you commission is hoping -- the eu commission is hoping the scope of this crisis will force them to act similar to the way they acted during the pandemic. >> the international monetary fund warned yesterday that a complete embargo of russian gas could lead to a severe recession and many eu countries -- in many eu countries. who would be most vulnerable and what preparations are being made? >> interestingly enough, it is also hungary that is vulnerable here because it depends on russian gas.

it is the czech republic, slovakia, but also germany, austria and italy who need this gas for their industries. if these industries shut down, then the whole of the european union would be affected. the recession would not be isolated in germany or austria. it would affect everything because apply chains -- because supply chains and production lines are so intertwined in the european union that you cannot separate them. >> last year, the european union imported 40% of its gas from russia. how successful have efforts meant to divest from this supply? >> they are telling us they shop around for gas supplies around the world. from the united states to qatar. they managed to get the reliance on russian gas down to 30% this year, but 30% is still too much. it still amounts to a gap of 30

billion cubic meters. >> dw correspondent, thank you for the update. meanwhile, russia is expanding its military objectives in ukraine. former foreign minister sergey lavrov says it seems now extend beyond the donbass region, where the fighting is currently heaviest. he insists the purpose of the invasion is to demilitarized ukraine. >> heartache in the city of kharkiv as a father in prayer kneels over his lifeless son. the teenager was waiting for a bus when he was killed by a russian missile strike. >> three people have been killed, including a 13-year-old boy, and two people wounded, among them a 15-year-old girl being operated on. >> daily shelling pummels

eastern ukraine, killing civilians and drawing neighborhoods. >> there were two strikes. one hit here and another hit a grocery store. now the trajectory of violence is about to change. >> as the west pours more and more long-range weapons into ukraine in an impotent rage, our desire -- or a desire to exacerbate the situation, that means the geographical tasks of the special operation will extend still further from the current line. >> russia's pretext for war was allegedly to liberate breakaway regions in the east from nazi rule, an accusation ukraine and the west say is not grounded in reality. now the kremlin is expanding its attack, blaming the west for its

shift in military strategy. >> we cannot allow the parts of ukraine that president volodymyr zelenskyy or whoever controls to have weapons that will pose a direct threat to our territory and the territory of those republics that have declared their independence. >> he says, at this point, engaging in peace talks doesn't make sense. meanwhile, ukrainians are paying the ultimate price. >> our correspondent is in kyiv and earlier we asked him for his take on the russian foreign minister's latest message. >> lavrov's words do not come as a surprise and you train. the russian propaganda has always adjusted its narrative from time to time, framing it as a reaction to western behavior, deliveries of weapons, but here

in kyiv, nobody has doubted that his focus on the donbas was just a temporary adjustment and the goal remains the same, to take big parts of ukraine or subdue the whole country. in the past few days, russia has a shot at odessa and another city in the south and that points to the next goal they might be approaching. this is the territories they call new russia that russian nationalists have been calling new russia since 2014, claiming they were an integral part of russia and these rockets and these cluster bombs and these two cities are laying claims to them although it is not clear russia would succeed at taking them. they were stopped there in february and with all their or most of their equipment and soldiers concentrated in the

donbas it would be difficult for them to make in advance there. >> that is our correspondent reporting from key. germany's foreign minister has announced plans for a new national security strategy. it is being drawn up in consultation with a range of civil military experts, parliament and the public. she has been presenting her plans around germany and also spoke to our correspondent. >> many thanks for joining deutsche welle. i would like to begin with were in ukraine, which is the backdrop -- with the war in ukraine, which is the backdrop to developing the new strategy. your counterpart in russia, lavrov, has just said russia is expanding its focus from donetsk and luhansk to other regions in the south. it seems to confirm the notion that russia is aiming to annex these territories, perhaps even

cut off ukraine entirely from the black sea. what is your response to that? >> the same as it has been in the last few months. we support ukraine not only with solidarity, not only by mentioning every day that this is a fundamental breach of international law by russia, but also with military support so they can self defend their country, their territory, and russia is using every time a different argument, so this time it is because of the military support they are seeing but they have been attacking kyiv and other parts of ukraine before, so it is just a new propaganda from the rest side -- the russian side. >> very severe dependency on russian gas. we have seen that in particular this very week. when you launche the strategy processd, you highlighted the issues of dependency, so i would like at another dependency the eu has on china for its economy. this is one that could go wrong

people are saying. you are developing a china strategy as art of this -- as part of this. how tereus are you about -- how serious are you about attacking issue in china? >> very serious. this is why we are looking intensively about our dependency but as we see also with russia some things you cannot cut from one day to the other and there are similar questions from many countries. for example, if we are going correctly now to be in line with our climate goals, we obviously need batteries. we don't have a battery production as we need for electric cars. now we are starting one but all the materials that are in the batteries we have a dependency of 98%, and this comes for all the cars in europe -- discounts for all the cars in europe, so this is why the strategy is not

an isolated german why but because -- german one but because we are in an integrated market we are doing it with our partners at the european commission, who have also made it clear that china is not only a competitor in some economic questions but also a partner fighting in the climate crisis but also a rival, and because it is a system rival, we have to make clear that nobody can blackmail as -- blackmail us as we were with regard to our dependency on russia. this is the baseline for a new china strategy, working together where we can but having also a sovereign european strategy of independence in critical infrastructure and especially in line with our foreign policy. >> that was germany's foreign minister speaking to dw's chief international editor, richard walker. if you like, you can watch the whole interview on our youtube channel. in italy, prime minister mario draghi has won a vote of confidence in his government but

his administration remains in peril after three parties refused to take party. draghi demanded unity from the coalition but failed to get the support of crucial factions. it is not clear whether he will resign. i asked an italian journalist if this was the victory draghi was hoping for. >> no. it is definitely not. he technically won the vote but, as you were saying earlier, most members of the parties underpinning his coalition have walked out of the vote. draghi is not an elected politician. he's always made clear that he wanted the support of parliament and the government of national unity to deliver forms and have some kind of legitimacy and i guess today's events were an unmistakable sign he doesn't have that support and majority anymore. now, the later reports we have been getting our draghi will not

resign tonight but the chances are high that it will go -- high that he will go and meet the president tomorrow to tender his resignation. >> this wouldn't be the first time he tries to resign. will the president accept his resignation this time around, do you think? >> you are right. it is one of the many grotesque turns of this political event we have been witnessing. we have to tell our audience that the first time the president refused draghi's resignation was mostly, we have been told by analysts, due to procedural reasons. so he wanted draghi to go to parliament, have a debate, and see what happens there. i think this has happened today and so what has happened today was surprising to many. there may be more surprises but chances are, yes, this time the president will accept draghi's resignation. >> draghi came into the post of prime minister to bring some

stability to italy. where does his probable departure or this crisis as a whole leave italy? >> it is an interesting question. i think theedia and analysts will keep an eye on markets to see what happens there. and, yeah, i think the next step will be to see what the president does. he has two options here. one is to consult with political parties and see if there's a new majority in parliament, but the most likely outcome is early elections after this summer. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> and the u.k., just two candidates are left battling it out to take over from outgoing prime minister boris johnson. the former conservative party leader has said his goodbyes in parliament and was forced to step down over a series of scandals. >> it had been clear for days --

standing. >> incredible period over the last couple years. supported those who needed our help with every step like the furlough. that is what you can expect from me. >> what remained in suspense was who would stand against him in the race. today, it became clear that that would be liz truss. truss represents the right wing of the tory party and once to continue johnson's confrontational approach toward brussels. >> i'm a loyal person. i'm loyal to boris johnson. i supported our prime minister's aspirations and wanted to deliver the promise of the 2019 manifesto. >> johnson bid farewell to the house today looking pleased with himself. >> mission largely accomplished

-- for now. mr. speaker, i want to thank everybody here, and hasta la vista, baby. thank you. >> u.s. president joe biden has called climate change a clear and present danger that cannot be ignored. biden is using his powers to invest billions of dollars to protect communities from extreme weather and support wind energy. speaking at a former coal-fired power plant in massachusetts, he said the u.s. must set a global example while protecting americans from extreme weather. the president is plagued by low poll numbers as activists sour on his ability to make in crete changes on climate but he says the fight isn't over. >> we will not take no for an answer. i will do everything in my power to clean our air and water, protect our people's health and

win a clean energy future. it sounds like hyperbole. our children and grandchildren are counting on us. not a joke. not a joke. if we don't keep below 1.5 degrees centigrade, we lose it all. we don't get to turn it around. and the world is counting on us. >> for more, i am joined by our correspondent in washington. biden says the world is counting on him and his country, so why is he stopping short of declaring a national emergency? >> well, because he simply wants to get the chance to take this bit by bit. i think he is in the process of giving up hope to avoid that no he said he will not take as an answer. a senator from his own party has turned on him and there's such a delicate balance among lawmakers that that vote would be needed to implement his climate action, the whole build back better

concept of joe biden. so this points to a weakness in the u.s. president's strategy and actually getting stuff done and his climate advisor was actually asked by journalists on the plane to somerset, massachusetts why there was no declaration of emergency, why there was no executive order, a sweeping executive order today, and she wouldn't go into detail but it sounded very much like they are still working out the exact details on how they want to do this but the announcement is there that executive orders will be issued on a host of climate policies. >> what he announced today is mostly focused on resilience and support for renewables. what impact will the action that he today presented have? >> the hope is that where you pledge more than $2 billion, as he has done today, more private investment will follow, and that

very much is the plan of action, also amongst -- according to his key advisors. beyond that, it will be about sticking to climate commitments. this is not necessarily something that is unpopular in the u.s., but he needs to convey the message that this can be dodone while creating jobs, and that is also why he chose this scene where he was standing today, one of the biggest coal-fired plants in the country. now there's a production of cables that bring offshore energy to the united states. that is what he wants to see in the future, but he really is failing to get that across the finishing line for now. >> does the public share biden's sense of urgency in tackling the lyman crisis -- the climate crisis? >> certainly 100 million americans now are suffering from the acute heat. there's a whole new audience this resonates with right now. polls have also shown that there

is a sense, not just among republicans, that they are in favor of green energy and particularly amongst his own democrat, more than two thirds feel that -- democrats, more than two thirds feel that their own president is acting too slowly, so if that is not a mandate, i don't know. >> thank you. europe's heatwave is causing more death and destruction. climate scientists are calling the extreme weather a wake-up call, warning that worse is to come because fossil fuels like coal and gas remain the world's primary energy sources. record temperatures in several countries are fueling deadly wildfires. french president emmanuel macron think firefighters taking a break in one of the worst affected areas of france. he says governments will need to plan on what he calls a more structural level in the future. the heatwave is making itself

felt in germany as well. thermometers have just recorded the hottest day of the year so far and many regions are suffering from a long-term lack of rainfall. >> it is a sweltering summer in germany. even in the morning, it was 30 degrees celsius in frankfurt. just about bearable. >> it is already hot, so we have to go home early. >> we are staying in the shade, drinking a lot and we've just had ice cream. >> the extreme heat is a bigger strain on people working outdoors. at this construction site in berlin, workers are struggling. on this farm in germany's north, relief comes from above. the heat is also hard on dairy cows they are enjoying the sprinklers -- cows and they are enjoying the water sprinklers. >> it surprised me that the cows come into the barn on their own,

and very quickly too, when the sprinkler system is on. they feel quite comfortable with this water cooling them down. they like it. >> meteorologists say some parts of germany will see lower temperatures thursday. >> tonight, humid air will come in from the west, making it muggy. then thunderstorms will roll in, which could bring heavy rain, hail and strong winds that will freshen the air, so while it will still be hot in eastern areas tomorrow, western areas should have cooled down. >> for now, the heat is sparking fires in many regions. 400 firefighters have been fighting this single fire since last night. >> before we go, here's a reminder of the top stories we are following for you today. europe is facing a looming winter gas crisis. european union member states are being told to use 15% less gas until next march. russia's president is warning that supplies sent through the nord stream i pipeline, which

have already been significantly reduced, could be cut off completely. that is all from the news for now but stay with us. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. i am nicole frolich. for me and the entire team in our newsroom, thank you so much watching.

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♪ anchor: president macron visits areas of southwestern france most affected by wildfires. firefighters say blazes are now coming under control. after today's vote, the u.k.'s former finance minister and the foreign secretary go through to the final stage in the race to replace prime minister boris johnson. the italian prime minister, mario draghi, wins a vote of confidence on his government, despite the fact that three parties of the ruling coali