Global Courant 2023-05-13 14:34:39
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy is in Rome on Saturday for talks with Italian officials and Pope Francis, who has said the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try and end the war launched by Russia last year.
Zelensky tweeted at 4:24 a.m. ET about the visit, mentioning Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as the Pope.
Rome today. I have a meeting with the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, the Prime Minister of Italy
When Zelenskyy arrived at a military airfield at Rome’s Ciampino Airport on Saturday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him. Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine “360 degrees” and push for a just peace, guaranteeing Ukraine’s independence.
Meloni firmly supports military and other aid to Ukraine. But while her Brothers of Italy party fiercely champions the principle of national sovereignty, Meloni has had to deal with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly expressed their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin for years.
Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former prime minister, boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy began his official meetings by visiting Mattarella, the head of state, in the presidential Quirinal Palace.
Around noon, the rain stopped just in time for the two to see a guard of honor in the courtyard of the palace atop Quirinal Hill, and Zelenskyy stood with his hand on his heart as an Italian military band played Ukraine’s national anthem .
“We are completely on your side,” Mattarella told Zelenskyy at the start of their meeting.
The Ukrainian leader then went to the Prime Minister’s office at Chigi Palace. Meloni and Zelenskyy embraced in the courtyard of the palace, before the two went to their closed-door talks.
“We need help,” says a Ukrainian citizen in Italy
On the way, Zelenskyy’s motorcade passed cheering Ukrainians who had been waiting in the rain to welcome him on his visit to the Italian capital, which was expected to last several hours.
Near the presidential palace was Mariya Hrytskevych, a Ukrainian national living in Italy, who noted that Zelenskyy “travels a lot for our good – to fight and find more help, because we need help.”
Zelenskyy would go to Berlin next.
His exact schedule had not been publicly announced due to security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian president’s plane landed.
Italy’s state radio reported that a no-fly zone had been declared for Rome’s airspace as part of protective measures and that police snipers had been strategically placed on tall buildings.
Francis yearns for peace
Meloni met with Zelenskyy in Kiev shortly before the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
Francis last met the Ukrainian leader in 2020.
The pope regularly makes impassioned pleas on behalf of the “martyred” people of Ukraine, in his words.
Pope Francis, who blessed children from Ukraine during the weekly general audience on Jan. 8 in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, last met Zelenskyy in 2020. (AFP via Getty Images)
In late April, flying back from a trip to Hungary to Rome, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scenes peacekeeping mission, but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.
Meanwhile, the German government said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3.97 billion Cdn), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and munitions.
An exterior view of the Quirinale presidential palace in Rome, where Zelenskyy would meet Mattarella. (Riccardo de Luca/The Associated Press)
The announcement came Saturday as preparations were made in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Zelensky since Russia invaded his country last year.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin’s latest arms package “wants to show that Germany is serious about its support” for Ukraine.
“Germany will provide all the help it can as long as it is needed,” he said.
