by italian president sergio mattarella. shortly after this he met the italian prime minister giorgia meloni, who said her country would back ukraine for as long as necessary. she called russia s invastion brutal and unjust. let s cross to the newsroom now and talk to our europe regional editor paul moss. very busy day for president and clearly some significant political strategy there on his behalf. he has been shoring strategy there on his behalf. he has been shoring up strategy there on his behalf. he has been shoring up support strategy there on his behalf. he has been shoring up support in - strategy there on his behalf. he has been shoring up support in italy - strategy there on his behalf. he has been shoring up support in italy and in many ways this was very much a loving of a visit when giorgia meloni saw this zelensky, they probably embraced each other and as you suggested, she was fulsome in her support and said italy would be a solid ally of ukraine, crucia
president, volodymyr zelensky. speaking in rome, ms meloni said her country would back ukraine for as long as was necessary, calling russia s invastion brutal and unjust. later on, president zelensky will meet the pope in the vatican, before visiting germany. let s cross to the newsroom now and talk to our europe regional editor correspondent paul moss. hi, paul. president zelensky is initially and what is he trying to achieve there? initially and what is he trying to achieve there? he s done a tour of lots of european achieve there? he s done a tour of lots of european countries - achieve there? he s done a tour of lots of european countries this - achieve there? he s done a tour of| lots of european countries this year to try and shore up support from politicians and the public. he needs their political support and also very keen to keep that aid flowing which is so necessary for ukraine s resistance of russia s invasion. italy is a special case and we have heard from
hello, i m christian fraser. you re watching the context on bbc news. the hollywood actors union has called off its strike, which has caused major disruption to film and tv productions. to film and tv productions. the union says it s reached a tentative agreement with studios. welcome back. president biden has warned the united states will target any groups linked to iran s revolutionary guard corps after a strike on an arms depot in eastern syria wednesday which had been linked to earlier attacks on us bases. the pentagon says there have been a0 such attacks since the war in gaza began. what s more, we have video from the iran backed houthi forces in yemen. they claim to be of an american m09 drone being shot out of the sky. it further underlines the tensions in the wider region, where iran s proxies are threatening to expand the conflict. this is whatjohn kirby, the spokesman for the us s national security council, had to say in an interview with the bbc. we believe that th