FILE PHOTO: Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini talks to journalists after a G6 meeting of Interior Ministers, the European Commissioner for Security and the European Commissioner for Migration near Lyon, France, October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot/File Photo

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, head of the League party, was quoted as saying he may consider running for the presidency of the European Commission at the next elections.

“It’s true, friends from several European countries are asking me to,” Salvini told la Repubblica daily in an interview. “May is still far away. We will see, I’ll think about it.”

The next European elections are due May 23–26.

Salvini, who was visiting Russia, also reiterated that Italy would oppose renewing indefinitely sanctions against Moscow.