2023-05-13 11:05:15
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Rome on Saturday for a visit during which he will meet Italy’s top leaders, including President Sergio Mattarella, as well as Pope Francis.
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Mr. Zelensky, who was welcomed at the Ciampino military airport by the head of Italian diplomacy Antonio Tajani, indicated on Twitter that he would subsequently meet the head of government Giorgia Meloni and then Pope Francis.
“Today in Rome. I meet the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and the Pope. An important visit to get closer to victory for Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
“Italy welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
We renew our commitment alongside the Ukrainian people, in defense of freedom and democracy,” tweeted Mr. Tajani.
Snipers were also deployed on the rooftops and a ban on overflights of the city, including for unauthorized drones, was decreed.
The 86-year-old pope, who previously welcomed Mr. Zelensky to the Vatican in February 2020, has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and prays for his victims almost weekly during his general audience.
Last month, he met Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, who invited him to Ukraine and asked for his help in returning the children forcibly taken to Russia.
This Saturday, when receiving ambassadors at the Vatican, the pope once more recalled “the war in Ukraine which brings untold suffering and death”.
The Ukrainian president will meet at midday Giorgia Meloni who traveled to Kiev in February to confirm Italy’s support for Ukraine, despite the peninsula’s close ties with Russia before its invasion of Ukrainian territory. in February 2022.
“I wanted (to come to Kiev) to reiterate Italy’s full support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, and to reaffirm that Italy has no intention of weakening,” he said at the time. Ms. Meloni during a press conference with Mr. Zelensky.
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