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Next trip abroad: Ukraine’s President Selenskyj travels to Rome on Saturday

Next trip abroad: Ukraine’s President Selenskyj travels to Rome on Saturday

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyj travels to Italy on Saturday. A reception by President Mattarella has already been confirmed there, and a meeting with the Pope is also expected. Does he also visit Germany?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to Western Europe again at the weekend. President Sergio Mattarella will receive him in Rome on Saturday, as confirmed by the Presidential Palace on Friday.

This is Zelenskyy’s first visit to Rome since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine in February 2022. The politician may travel to Germany at the weekend. But that is not confirmed.

Meeting with Meloni and Pope expected

It was expected that Zelenskyy would also meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis in Rome. Details were not initially available on Friday. Since taking office in autumn 2022, the ultra-right politician has always spoken out vehemently in favor of supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia. In February she traveled to Kiev.

Pope Francis has been calling on the faithful to pray for “tortured Ukraine” practically every day for more than a year and regularly appeals to Kiev and Moscow to agree on a ceasefire. The 86-year-old head of the Catholic Church has not yet accepted invitations to the Ukrainian capital. The physically ailing pontiff repeatedly emphasized that he only wanted to travel to Kiev if he was also received in Moscow.

Francis had recently indicated to journalists that a Vatican “mission” related to the war was currently underway. He did not give details. At first it was unclear whether he meant Zelensky’s visit to Rome and the Vatican or something else.

Selenskyj most recently in Helsinki and The Hague

The Ukrainian President had recently visited Western European cities under strict security precautions, such as Helsinki and The Hague in the Netherlands in early May, where the International Criminal Court is based. He has also been to London, Paris, Brussels and before that to Washington.

On Sunday, Selenskyj will be awarded the renowned Charlemagne Prize in Aachen on behalf of the Ukrainian people. It remains to be seen whether he will come in person, as well as a prior visit to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.

Source: Stern

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