Zelenskyy arrives in Italy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Italy on Thursday evening, 9 January, where he is scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
According to Zelenskyy’s spokesman Serhii Nykyforov, the Ukrainian president plans to meet with Meloni on 9 January and with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Friday, 10 January.
Nykyforov said in a commentary to journalists that the topics that Zelenskyy will discuss in Italy include:
- defence support;
- International Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Italy this summer:
- coordination of international efforts to achieve peace:
- Euro-Atlantic integration.
One of the topics will also be devoted to discussing cooperation within the G7, including sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy's meeting with Meloni will take place immediately after the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein Group. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umierov spoke with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto about missiles for air defence systems that Italy could provide to Ukraine.
On 9 January, US President Joe Biden was also scheduled to visit Rome, where, according to the White House, he was to meet with Pope Francis, Meloni and Mattarella.
However, it became known that he would not travel to Italy because of the fires raging in California.