After some uncertainties, it is now confirmed: Volodimir Zelensky will be Saturday in Rome and during a visit lightning he will meet the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Pope. It is above all the meeting with Pope Francis, the first since the beginning of the war of aggression by Moscow, which attracts the spotlight. So much so that Tass, the Russian press agency, immediately hastened to specify - citing "Vatican sources" - that the meeting will not be dedicated to peace. However, it is difficult to believe after the Holy See - and the Pope himself - has officially spoken of a peace mission in recent days. Vatican sources they let it be known that "it is possible that the Pope will meet the Ukrainian president", without specifying the place or time. The Pontiff has been repeatedly invited to go to Kiev, but he himself has always set the condition of being able to go to Moscow as well, without however getting a response from the Kremlin. In any case, diplomatic work is going "forward", the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, announced on Thursday, speaking of "contacts" and news "on a confidential level".
The meeting with Sergio Mattarella will take place at Quirinal but the details of the visit of the Ukrainian leader who is still surrounded by a have not been released at the moment aura of reserve, probably for security reasons. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani should also participate in the meeting with Meloni, but not the other Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
It is the first time in Italy of President Zelensky since the war has been going on since the Russian invasion of last February 24, 2022. The visit to Rome is part of a European tour that will also bring Zelensky to Berlin over the weekend, although not even Germany has confirmed officially the program of the visit to Berlin. According to indiscretions published by the German press (but later confirmed by a police spokesman) and which have annoyed Ukraine because they are judged dangerous for security, Zelensky will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday evening after leaving Italy. Then he would have to move on to then to Aachen to receive the Charlemagne award. Previously Zelensky has been to Washington, London, Paris, Brussels and in recent days Helsinki and The Hague.
