Today in Rome the Ukrainian President met Pope Leo XIV, in the afternoon the conversation with Giorgia Meloni. Meanwhile, the American administration increases pressure on Zelensky to accept the unfavorable peace, and the Ukrainian squares up with the Europeans
After the London stop on Monday, in which he met the leaders of the “coalition of the willing”, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued the European mini-tour today with a double state visit to Rome.
In the morning, at Castel Gandolfo, pope Leo XIV. In the early afternoon, however, the prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Pope to Zelensky: “Continue the dialogue”
The face-to-face meeting with the Pontiff lasted approximately 30 minutes, «during the cordial conversation», reports a bulletin from the Holy See press office, «which had the war in Ukraine at its centre, the Holy Father reiterated the need to continue the dialogue and renewed the pressing hope that the ongoing diplomatic initiatives can lead to a just and lasting peace».
«Moreover», the note continues, «there was no lack of reference to the question of prisoners of war and the need to ensure the return of Ukrainian children to their families», an initiative, the latter, which has always seen the Vatican at the forefront.
The Europeans rally around Zelensky
While the peace negotiations seem to direct Kiev towards painful concessions (first and foremost the territorial one), the Ukrainian President is doing everything in his power to create a compact European front that will steer the peace negotiations in a direction favorable to Kiev.
The visit of the Ukrainian President to the Holy Father and the Italian Prime Minister should therefore not be read as a simple diplomatic courtesy, but as an active search for support to counteract the growing American diplomatic pressure.
It is no coincidence that the meeting had yesterday with the prime minister Keir Starmerthe President Emmanuel Macron and the Chancellor Friedrich Merz, it had the precise aim of rallying around the Ukrainian President.
The main problem is “convergence with the United States”, Macron himself admitted without mincing words after the meeting, which served to continue the “common work” to modify the American plan in favor of Kiev.
For his part, regarding possible territorial concessions Zelensky stated that «have no legal right to do so, according to Ukrainian law, our Constitution and international law. And we don’t even have the moral right to do so.”
American diplomatic pressure is growing
However, pressure from Washington is growing. Last night the American President Donald Trump has returned to criticizing Zelenskyclaiming to be «disappointed that President Zelensky has not yet read the proposal (of peace)» elaborated.
Tough attacks also on Europeansfirst directly from the Oval Office, where Trump accused Europe of having taken «a wrong direction», then via social media, with the American President sharing an article from the New York Post entitled: «Powerless Europeans can only rage when Trump rightly excludes them from participating in the Ukraine deal».
All this seems to confirm what Axios reported, according to which The US administration is reportedly increasing its diplomatic pressure for Ukraine to accept major territorial losses and other concessions.
According to a Ukrainian official heard by the American newspaper, the US proposal included stricter conditions than previous versions on issues such as territory and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plantleaving fundamental questions relating to safety guarantees unanswered.
