Rome, May 13. The forces of order have maximized the security measures in Rome today for the visit of the Ukrainian president, Volodomir Zelenski, who this morning will meet with his Italian counterpart, Sergio Matarella, on a trip in which he is also scheduled to meet with Pope Francis and the Italian Prime Minister, Giogia Meloni.
The Italian capital is armored, with a thousand agents deployed, a no-fly zone and several sniper teams located in the areas where Zelenski will pass, whose agenda and schedules are still not officially communicated, for security reasons, although it is expected that begin your meetings with Mattarella and Meloni, and the meeting with Pope Francis occurs in the afternoon.
The impressive security device, which includes tight controls at the capital’s train stations and airports, has anti-terrorist units, sniffer dogs and anti-bomb squads, “and there will also be underground controls, with inspections of the sewage networks,” according to the police headquarters.
It is expected that, after his arrival at Ciampino airport, Zelenski will go to the Quirinal, the headquarters of the State headquarters, where Mattarella will be received and where no statements will be made to the media, sources from the Italian Presidency told EFE.
Afterwards, he will possibly meet with Meloni, a firm defender of the European Union’s support for Ukraine and with whom Zelensky has always maintained a good relationship, in what will be their second meeting in less than three months after the Prime Minister’s visit to Kiev. last February.
Pending the delivery of the Samp-T air defense system, for which Italy has trained Ukrainian soldiers, Zelensky could reiterate his request for fighter jets from Rome, according to local media.
Finally, the Ukrainian president will go to the Vatican to be received by Pope Francis, although the meeting has yet to be officially confirmed by the Holy See, which apparently considers the meeting to be private, which may further limit the already scant information on the event. same.
The meeting takes place in the midst of the Vatican peace mission announced by the pontiff on the return flight from his recent trip to Hungary and of which the details are not yet known, although a Vatican source has told Russian media that the meeting “is not directly related” to her and that Zelenski requested the meeting with Francisco “just a few days ago.”
It will be the first between the two since the war began, although they already know each other because Francis received Zelenski in audience on February 8, 2020 and on that occasion they spoke “of the humanitarian situation and the search for peace” in the context “of the conflict that, since 2014, continues to plague Ukraine”. EFE
mr/pi
(photo)
