By Sofia Bettiza in Rome & Laura Gozzi in London
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Rome, where he is meeting political leaders ahead of an audience with Pope Francis.
“An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!” he tweeted as he landed in the Italian capital.
He met Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella and will head for the Vatican later on Saturday.
A huge security operation has been launched, with more than 1,000 police deployed and a no-fly zone over Rome.
President Zelensky held a private meeting with his counterpart President Mattarella, then met PM Meloni for a working lunch.
Italy historically has strong ties with Moscow.
Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the conservative Forza Italia party, is an old friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They went on trips together and exchanged birthday gifts.
Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, has frequently voiced pro-Russian sentiments and criticised military assistance to Ukraine. President Zelensky is not expected to meet either Mr Salvini or Mr Berlusconi during his trip.
Pope Francis has often said that the Vatican stands ready to act as a mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, he stated that the Vatican was working on a peace plan to end the war, saying that the mission was “not yet public. When it is public, I will talk about it.”
But the relationship between Ukraine and the Vatican has sometimes been uneasy.
Last August, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican took the unusual step of criticising the Pope after the pontiff referred to Darya Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultra-nationalist figure, who was killed by a car bomb, as an “innocent” victim of war.
Saturday will be the first time President Zelensky and Pope Francis have met since Russia invaded Ukraine. The pair did meet in 2020.
Meanwhile, the German government unveiled its biggest military aid package for Ukraine yet, worth €2.7bn (£2.4bn). Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Zelensky, said the aid indicated that Russia was “bound to lose and sit on the bench of historical shame”.
Earlier this week, German media reported that President Zelensky was planning to visit Germany following his trip to Italy, although this has not yet been confirmed.
In other developments:
- President Zelensky’s visit comes after Russia carried out a new wave of air strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight
- More than 20 people were injured in the western city of Khmelnytsky. Critical infrastructure, as well as homes and government buildings, was also hit
- Explosions were reported on Friday in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, about 90km (56 miles) behind the front line in eastern Ukraine. Russian-backed separatist forces in the region accused Kyiv of using Storm Shadow missiles, which the UK said it had supplied Ukraine with earlier this week
- There were also more reports of blasts in Luhansk on Saturday
- A helicopter crashed in Russia’s Bryansk region, on the border with Ukraine, injuring one woman. Footage circulating on social media purports to show an S-24 war plane also crashing in the region on Saturday – although the videos have not been verified.
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