14:26 pm - The face-to-face between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Palazzo Chigi ended. Started at 13.05, the interview lasted one hour and ten minutes.
13:53 - The two-way meeting between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Palazzo Chigi, which began at 13.05, takes place in English, without interpreters. Meanwhile, the two delegations, in the Green Room, began to confront each other. The Italian delegation includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, Undersecretary Giovanbattista Fazzolari and Ambassador Francesco Talò, diplomatic advisor to the Prime Minister, and the Italian Ambassador in Kiev Pier Francesco Zazo. In the Ukrainian delegation, among others, also Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the Ukrainian president. At the end of the meetings there will be a working lunch, followed by joint statements to the press by Meloni and Zelensky in the Galleon Hall.
Zelensky in Rome, the meeting at the Quirinale with Mattarella
13:48 - "In Rome I met the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella. I am grateful for the consistent position on support for Ukraine. We appreciate the important military assistance that gives our country the ability to resist Russian aggression. The key to our success on the battlefield is the timely receipt of the necessary assistance. Italy was and is on the right side, on the side of truth in this war. We are moving in the direction of victory. Victory means peace for our state." So Volodymyr Zelensky in a message on Telegram in Ukrainian and Italian.
13:24 - "I am here to thank Italy. I would like to embrace the Italians one by one for the support that has been continuously offered to us at all levels and that has not changed with the governments (Draghi and Meloni). We have common values with Italy. We stand for peace, our victory is peace. We are open to all international contributions but we are suffering war on our territory and peace must provide justice throughout our territory". This is what Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky said during talks with Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale.
13:23 - Italy, in conjunction with the main Allies, will continue to provide the necessary support, including military, to achieve a just peace for Ukraine, which can only exist if Russia ceases hostilities. It is one of the concepts, as we learn, that will be expressed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the conversation just begun with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. At the same time, it is explained, Italy will continue to support a rigorous application of sanctions that are one of the main tools against the aggressor, along with the financial and military ones, to end hostilities.
Zelensky in Rome, arrival at the Quirinale
13:16.-"Peace, for which we all work, must restore justice and international law. It must be a true peace and not a surrender." This is what the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, reportedly said to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the meeting at the Quirinale.
13:15 - "I reconfirm Italy's full support to Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian and reconstruction aid, in the short and long term. At stake are not only the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but also the freedom of peoples and the international order." This is what the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, reportedly said to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the meeting at the Quirinale.
13:12 - The meeting between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as we learn, will be an opportunity to reiterate Italy's firm support for Ukraine at 360 degrees, its territorial integrity, the sovereignty and independence of Kiev and the closeness of the Italian people to the Ukrainian people committed to defending the shared values of freedom and democracy jeopardized by the Russian invasion war.
13:02 - The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, welcomed the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the courtyard of Palazzo Chigi. There was a hug between the two, followed by a handshake in front of the cameras in the courtyard of Palazzo Chigi, where Zelensky was greeted by the picket with military honors.
13:00 - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at Palazzo Chigi for a meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. On the door of the seat of the Presidency of the Council, according to the protocol, fly the flag of the European Union, in the center the Italian tricolor and then that of Ukraine. After the working lunch, joint statements to the press are planned.
Zelensky in Rome, the passage of the president's procession towards Palazzo Chigi
12:48 pm - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has just left the Quirinale after meeting the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and is now headed to Palazzo Chigi, where he will meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and have a working lunch. Before leaving the Quirinale, Zelensky greeted Mattarella after about 25 minutes of talk, greeting him smiling with a handshake.
12:29 pm - "It is an honor to have you here in Rome. I asked to meet you again after our conversation years ago even if in this different condition, we are fully at your side. Welcome President." This was stated by President Sergio Mattarella to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Quirinale table where the talks between the two delegations, Italian and Ukrainian, are being held.
12:17 pm - It is an intense Saturday for Pope Francis, who faced a morning full of audiences, waiting for the meeting in the afternoon with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Pope held six audiences this morning, issued the new 'Constitution' of the Holy See and appointed four new bishops in various parts of the world.
12:07 pm - The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella welcomed the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the courtyard of the Quirinale. The two greeted each other with a handshake and then attended the honors of the units and their respective national anthems. On the tower of the Quirinale was hoisted the Ukrainian flag.
12:03 pm - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the Quirinale to meet with President Sergio Mattarella. To welcome in the courtyard of the palace the picket of honor.
Zelensky welcomed at Ciampino by Tajani
11:58 am - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has just left the hotel that hosts him in the center of Rome to go to the Quirinale.
11:45 am - Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived at Palazzo Chigi. Here, around 1 p.m., he will receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The program has not been officially confirmed but, after a working lunch, the two leaders are expected to make joint statements to the press.
11.35 am - Pope Francis will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "after 3 p.m." This was reported by Vatican sources. Zelensky, after the Pope, will also have a meeting at the Vatican Secretariat of State.
10:51 am - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has just arrived in a well-known hotel in Rome, before going to the Quirinale Palace by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.
10:42 am - "Italy welcomes the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. We renew our commitment alongside the Ukrainian people, in defense of freedom and democracy." This was written on Twitter by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
10:37 am - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in sweatshirt and camouflage, smiling, greeted by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani upon his arrival at the Roman airport of Ciampino, boarded an armored car with which, under a large escort, he left the Roman airport at 10.22.
10:35 am - The Air Force Airbus A319 carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, visiting Italy for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion, landed on the runway of Ciampino airport. To welcome him, among huge security measures and with two carabinieri and two airmen deployed in high uniform at the foot of the ladder, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, the Ukrainian ambassador to Italy Yaroslav Melnyk and the ambassador of Italy in Kiev Pier Francesco Zazo.
10:29 am - "Rome. Meetings with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis. An important visit for the victory of Ukraine". This was written on Telegram by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who had already arrived in Rome.
10:21 am - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - according to what is learned - is expected at the Quirinale, for the two-way interview with President Sergio Mattarella, between 11.30 and noon. The one with the President of the Republic is the first of Zelensky's four appointments in Rome, who is expected at lunchtime at Palazzo Chigi by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. In the afternoon - around 4 pm - he will be at the Pope's and at 6.30 pm there will be an interview with Bruno Vespa for Porta a Porta.
10:13 a.m. - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed at Ciampino Airport in Rome. Foreign Minister Tajani is waiting for him.
10:07 am - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is at Ciampino airport waiting for the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
09:48 - Among extensive security measures, theCiampino port is preparing to welcome the arrival this morning of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The checks are already carried out at the entrance of the Roman airport where cars and mobile phones of the Police and Carabinieri are stationed. Off-limits is then the area of the 31st Wing of the Air Force where the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, will welcome the Ukrainian president.
09:46 - The security plan in Rome is already operational for the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. There are over a thousand law enforcement personnel employed. The police headquarters in Rome has launched a plan that also includes a no fly zone and a ban on overflights for drones. Artificers, helicopters and sharpshooters at work. Reclamation and control activities also carried out underground. The area around the Parco dei Principi hotel, in Parioli, which should be the headquarters chosen by the Ukrainian president, is guarded by law enforcement. The Tiber River and the parks are guarded, where surveillance is also ensured by the horse department, while control from the sky is entrusted to police helicopters. In the field also the anti-terrorist units of police and carabinieri.
Ukraine, Prigozhin: 'Russian regular forces fleeing Bakhmut'
ANSA Agency
Zelensky in Rome sees the Pope, Mattarella and Meloni - Politics
Between the Vatican's peace initiative and Italian support (ANSA)
