Italy has reopened its embassy in Kiev and "will be fully operational on Monday".
The announcement came yesterday from Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio: "Ambassador Zazo has just returned to Kiev from Lviv, after a 10-hour journey".
The return of the Italian diplomat was expected immediately after Easter, but the ambassador "is already operational and from next week he will be working with Ukrainian institutions for diplomacy and to reach at least a ceasefire", added Di Maio, recalling that the Italian embassy had been "among the last to leave the Ukrainian capital and is now among the first to return".
"The reopening of our Embassy in Kiev represents for us an exciting and hopeful moment more than fifty days after the beginning of the conflict. As highlighted by Foreign Minister Di Maio, the reopening of our headquarters is a symbolic gesture but that these Authorities greatly appreciate. Today we feel even closer to the Government and the Ukrainian people and we will continue to assist our compatriots in the best possible way ", underlined Ambassador Pier Francesco Zazo
Yesterday in a video link from the Crisis Unit, the head of the Farnesina then thanked Zazo and his staff "for their courage and dedication", also in the work done in Lviv in recent weeks: "There were 2000 Italians" to be evacuated , "139 left."
The return to Kiev "is the symbol of Italy that believes in dialogue", the minister insisted, explaining that reopening the embassy means "being close to the Ukrainian authorities but also pursuing the path of justice for the many civilians killed".
In the next few days, Zazo will be visiting precisely those areas around the capital where the Russian retreat has brought out violence, death and horrors of all kinds.
"The atrocities are there for all to see. There are civilians and children killed,
