Italy PM Meloni arrives in Kyiv ahead of Zelensky talks
The Hindu
Her trip comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden visited the Ukrainian capital.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, hours after pledging continued military support for Ukraine.
Ms. Meloni said she was "honoured" to make the visit as she stepped off a train coming from Poland. Ukrainian officials greeted her with a bunch of flowers.
The Italian leader was expected to visit the war-battered towns of Bucha and Irpin, in the north-western outskirts of Kyiv, before her talks with Mr. Zelensky.
"I am here to understand the needs of a people fighting for their freedom. It's always different seeing things with your own eyes and I think it helps Italians understand," Ms. Meloni said in comments carried by Italian public RAI television.
Her trip comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden visited the Ukrainian capital.
Ms. Meloni, who took office in October, had repeatedly said she wanted to go to Kyiv ahead of the Feb. 24 anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
Her right-wing government has kept up support for Ukraine, even if junior partners in the coalition, particularly former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, have expressed misgivings.