Pope meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy at Vatican
ROME
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, saying it was a great honor to meet with the pontiff, who has previously offered to do what he can to try to end the war launched by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
Zelenskyy held his hand of his heart as the pope, using a cane, came to greet him before ushering the Ukrainian into a papal studio near the Vatican’s audience call. “Thank you for your visit,” Francis said, as their 40-minute-long meeting began.
In a written statement, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraine’s “humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on.”
”The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year,” the Vatican said, a reference to the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, by Russia’s military.
“Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts” to help the population. “The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for ‘humanitarian gestures’ toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict,” the statement said.
Ahead of Zelenskyy’s arrival in late afternoon, police moved tourists to one side of St. Peter’s Square so the Ukrainian president’s motorcade could speed across the vast cobblestone space.
Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy met with Italian officials after his morning flight to Rome. He received pledges of both open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraine’s cherished aim to join the European Union.
“The message is clear and simple,” Meloni said, flanked by Zelenskyy as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour. “The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it’s the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.”
Meloni, who had met with Zelenskyy in Ukraine in February, just ahead of the anniversary of the invasion, renewed her pledge to champion Ukraine’s EU ambitions, saying Ukraine was moving ahead with required reforms despite the war. The premier, who staunchly backs military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country “360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.”
But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party champions the principle of national sovereignty, Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who for years have openly professed their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule hadn’t been publicly announced because of security concerns. Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for the skies over Rome and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS SATURDAY
Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraine’s land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle.
Russian shelling on Saturday wounded at least seven civilians in Ukraine’s
AAsouth and northeast, regional Ukrainian officials said. Two women, a man and a teenage boy suffered wounds as Russian forces shelled the village of Khatnie, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the local prosecutor’s office said.
A “massive” Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, the Ukrainian energy ministry said Saturday morning. It added that power supply in the region wasn’t affected. The mayor of the regional capital said that 11 civilians were wounded or injured overnight as a result of a Russian missile strike,
Russian shelling Saturday killed two civilians and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 18 miles west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutor’s office reported in a Telegram post. According to the update, posted on the agency’s official channel, a 15-year-old girl was among those killed, while two more teenagers suffered wounds.
AA