Zelenskyy arrives in Italy to meet with president and Pope

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Italy on an official visit on 13 May for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion.

Source: Zelenskyy on Telegram, as reported by European Pravda

Quote: "Rome. Meetings with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis. An important visit for Ukraine's victory," Zelenskyy wrote.

Details: According to ANSA, Zelenskyy landed at Rome's Ciampino airport at 11:13 Kyiv time, where he was met by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Zelenskyy will arrive for a bilateral meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at around 12:30.

After that, he will have separate meetings with Meloni and Tajani. The Italian media are reporting that the Ukrainian president is to meet with the Pope in the Vatican in the afternoon.

Background: In April, Pope Francis met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Zelenskyy visited the Vatican in February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic began.

The Italian Prime Minister, in turn, paid her first visit to Ukraine on 23 February, during which she announced a military aid package that includes SAMP/T-MAMBA systems, as well as Spada and Skyguard systems.

According to unconfirmed reports, Zelenskyy will leave for Germany in the evening, where he has a series of meetings scheduled for Sunday, including one with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

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