Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski arrived in Rome, the capital of Italy, yesterday as part of official contacts, and met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Zelenski then went to the Vatican and met with Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the Catholics.
After Zelensky’s contacts, the Office of the President of Ukraine shared the Italy-Ukraine joint declaration. The following statements were included in the declaration;
“The Italian Republic welcomes the agreement on the new International Center for the Prosecution of Crimes of Assault against Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague and looks forward to its launch as soon as possible. It will continue to work with others to develop mechanisms to provide compensation for losses, injuries and damages caused by Russian aggression.To this end, the international damage record, which will be presented at the Reykjavik Summit of the Council of Europe on 16-17 May 2023, is an important milestone. It will continue to explore suitable options for financing a compensation mechanism, including a solid legal basis for the use of frozen and immobilized Russian assets to support the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Pope Francis gifted an olive branch statue to represent peace during Zelenski’s visit. The two leaders chatted with the translation of Reverend Marko Gongalo, a Polish translator working in the Vatican Secretariat. During the 40-minute meeting, Pope Francis stated that he would constantly pray for Ukraine. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky came to Rome for a short time on February 8, 2020, and met with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace.