The Ukrainian President visits Italy and meets the Pope of the Vatican
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Italy on Saturday for talks with government officials and Pope Francis, who said in late April that the Holy See was engaged in a peace mission to end the war with Russia.
The visit has not been officially confirmed for security reasons, and it is Zelensky’s first to Italy since the Russian invasion of his country on February 24, 2022.
But multiple sources expect him to meet separately with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorga Meloni before heading to the Vatican. He is also expected to be a guest on a popular Italian TV talk show before heading to Germany.
Meloni visited Zelensky in Kiev in February to assure him of Italy’s continued support for Ukraine, even though some of its allies, notably former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, have long-standing ties to Moscow.
The meeting with the Pope will be the most important item in Zelensky’s visit to Italy. He had met Pope Francis in the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began.
After his visit to Italy, the Ukrainian president is scheduled to go to Germany. According to Berlin daily BZ, the Ukrainian president will arrive in Berlin on May 13 and will be received by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on May 14.
