Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Rome on Saturday to ask for new support, as his troops say they are “advancing” around Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine, after Berlin announced a new military aid of 2.7 billion euros.
“Today in Rome. I meet the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and the Pope. An important visit to get closer to victory for Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
It is his first visit to Italy since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to leaks in the German media, Mr. Zelensky could go to Germany, after his Italian stage, to meet the country’s leaders on Sunday and receive the European Charlemagne Prize there, while Berlin – which has not officially confirmed this visit — on Saturday announced significant military aid to Kiev.
The German government has indicated that it is preparing a new military aid plan of 2.7 billion euros (3.9 billion Canadian dollars), including the delivery of numerous tanks, armored vehicles and anti-aircraft defense systems.
“We all want a quick end to this atrocious war by Russia against the Ukrainian people… That is why Germany will provide all the help it can, for as long as necessary,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.
Deliveries in preparation include, in particular, 30 additional Leopard-1 A5 tanks, 20 new Marder type armored vehicles and more than a hundred other smaller armored vehicles, 200 surveillance drones, 4 new Iris-air defense systems T and their launch platforms, numerous missiles for anti-aircraft defense, 18 Howitzer-type guns and ammunition.
‘Doomed to lose’
This aid “directly shows that (…) Russia is condemned to lose”, welcomed on Twitter the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Mykhaïlo Podoliak, rejoicing in the “demonstrative” support of the Western allies in Kiev after nearly 15 months of war.
The Ukrainian army said Saturday “advance” in “certain areas” around Bakhmout.
“The defensive operation in the direction of Bakhmout continues. Our soldiers are advancing in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and troops,” Ukrainian ground troop commander Oleksandre Syrsky said on Telegram.
Western countries have meanwhile multiplied their announcements of military aid to Ukraine in recent days, angering Moscow.
Strong reactions from the Russian side
Russia on Friday called the UK’s decision the previous day to supply long-range missiles to Kiev an “extremely hostile” measure, accusing London of seeking a “serious aggravation” of the conflict.
The head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner also accused Russian regular troops on Friday of “fleeing” their positions near Bakhmout.
Russia also accused the Ukrainian military on Saturday of using British long-range Storm Shadow missiles the day before, promised by London on Thursday to Kiev, to target “civilian targets” in the Russian-controlled Lugansk region, in the Eastern Ukraine.
“Storm Shadow air-to-air missiles supplied to the Kiev regime by the United Kingdom were used” on Friday for a strike on “civilian targets” in the city of Lugansk, causing “injuries, including six children”, indicated the Russian Defense Ministry in a statement.
Visit under high security
In Rome, the Ukrainian president’s visit is taking place under tight security, with many police patrolling the streets, while law enforcement motorcyclists wait parked at strategic street corners.
Snipers were also deployed on rooftops and a ban on overflights of the city, including for unauthorized drones, was decreed.
Mr. Zelensky, who arrived in the middle of the day at the seat of the Italian government, met Giorgia Meloni, who had gone to Kiev in February to “reiterate Italy’s full support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression” , despite the close ties the peninsula had with Moscow before its invasion of Ukrainian territory.
“We renew our commitment alongside the Ukrainian people, in defense of freedom and democracy,” tweeted the head of Italian diplomacy Antonio Tajani.
For his part, the 86-year-old Pope, who already welcomed Mr. Zelensky to the Vatican in February 2020, has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine. This Saturday, when receiving ambassadors, he stressed that this war brought “unspeakable suffering and death”.
Last month, the pope met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, who invited him to Ukraine and asked for his help in returning the children forcibly taken to Russia.