Ukraine's President Meets Political Leaders n Pope Francis

Enormous security operation greeted the visit, with more than a thousand police deployed and a no-fly zone over Rome.

President Zelensky held a private meeting with his counterpart President Mattarella, then met Ms Meloni for a working lunch.

According to report, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Rome, where he is meeting political leaders and having an audience with Pope Francis.

"An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!" he tweeted as he landed in the Italian capital.

He met Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella and is now at Vatican talks with the pope.

Italy historically has strong ties with Moscow.

Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the conservative Forza Italia party, is an old friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They went on trips together and exchanged birthday gifts.

Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, has frequently voiced pro-Russian sentiments and criticised military assistance to Ukraine. President Zelensky is not expected to meet either Mr Salvini or Mr Berlusconi during his trip.

At the news conference that followed the meeting between President Zelensky and Ms Meloni, the Ukrainian leader invited "all the Italian political leaders and representatives of civil society" to visit Ukraine.

He said they would be able "to see what a single person was capable of doing to us, what Putin was capable of, and you will understand why we are fighting this evil".

President Zelensky then set off for the Vatican, where he held talks with the Pope.

In a statement, the Holy See said the two leaders "discussed the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused by the ongoing war" during a meeting that lasted about 40 minutes.

The pontiff and President Zelensky "both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population.

"The Pope stressed in particular the urgent need for 'human gestures' towards the most fragile people, innocent victims of the conflict," the statement added.

Pope Francis has often said that the Vatican stands ready to act as a mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, he stated that the Vatican was working on a peace plan to end the war, saying that the mission was "not yet public. When it is public, I will talk about it."

But the relationship between Ukraine and the Vatican has sometimes been uneasy.

Last August, Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican took the unusual step of criticising the Pope after the pontiff referred to Darya Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultra-nationalist figure, who was killed by a car bomb, as an "innocent" victim of war.

Saturday will be the first time President Zelensky and Pope Francis have met since Russia invaded Ukraine. The pair did meet in 2020.

Meanwhile, the German government unveiled its biggest military aid package for Ukraine yet, worth €2.7bn (£2.4bn). Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Zelensky, said the aid indicated that Russia was "bound to lose and sit on the bench of historical shame".

Earlier this week, German media reported that President Zelensky was planning to visit Germany following his trip to Italy, although this has not yet been confirmed.