this was the moment he arrived at the prime minister s residence in rome, where he was greeted by italian president sergio mattarella. shortly after this, he met the italian prime minister, giorgia meloni. she s been one of ukraine s more vocal backers, although polls suggest that italian people overall are opposed to sending ukraine more weapons, as are some of her coalition partners. more now from the bbc s sofia bettiza in rome. more than 1000 security officers have been deployed in rome today. this is the first time the president zelensky visits italy since russia invaded ukraine last year. he has had a meeting with his counterpart, the italian president. they had a private meeting that lasted for about 25 minutes and some of the things that they discussed were economic sanctions against russia, the kidnapping of ukrainian children, the need to step up the fight against pro kremlin fake news and ukrainejoining the european union. after the meeting, president zelensky said
the eurovision song contest final. hello. i m nancy kacungira. ukrainian president volodimir zelensky has arrived in the italian capital rome, where he ll meet italian political leaders and have an audience with the pope. we are showing you live shots at the president s residence in rome. italy s prime minister, giorgia meloni, has been one of ukraine s more vocal backers, although polls suggest that italian people overall are opposed to sending ukraine more weapons. mr zelensky tweeted that it was an important visit for what he said was the approaching victory for ukraine. those live pictures there, in rhyme. live now to the bbc s sofia bettiza in rome. well, zelensky has said this is an important visit for his approaching victory. what message will he be trying to send? victory. what message will he be trying to send? president zelensky has landed in trying to send? president zelensky has landed in rome trying to send? president zelensky has landed in rome about - tr
ahead of an audience with pope francis. trumpets play this was the moment he arrived at the prime minister s residence in rome. later he ll be meeting the italian prime minister giorgia meloni, and also travel to the vatican. a huge security operation has been launched, with over 1,000 police deployed and a no fly zone over rome. president zelensky is then due to travel to germany, and in the past few hours we ve heard that germany has pledged nearly $3 billion of military to ukraine. that s the biggest aid package from italy yet. that s the biggest aid package from germany yet. but back to italy first. let s cross to the newsroom now and talk to our europe regional editor correspondent paul moss. why has zelensky travel to rome? he s trying to shore up political support and military aid for his country but it s an interesting case. 0n the one hand the prime minister, meloni, has been very vocal with their support of ukraine. but on the other hand you have to look at who else