ROME: Italy and Qatar will try and boost their energy cooperation, Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Sunday as Rome looks to break its reliance on Russian gas imports in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.

Di Maio and the head of Italian energy group Eni, Claudio Descalzi, held two days of talks over the weekend with officials in the Gulf state.

"I am happy to announce that the Qatari authorities will endeavour to strengthen the energy partnership with Italy," Di Maio said in a video posted on Facebook.

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"Strengthening ties with Qatar and with other countries ... will make us autonomous from eventual blackmail from Russian gas," he added.

The crisis over Ukraine has left Italy exposed. It uses gas to generate 40% of its electricity and imports account for more than 90% of its gas needs. Last year 40% of those imports came from Russia and some 10% from Qatar.