NOT long after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited 3 countries in Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also headed to 4 European member countries of the G7 ahead of its summit later this week.
The first stop in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Europe Tour was Italy.
During the weekend, the Ukrainian president met with Pope Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and other Italian officials to express gratitude for Italy’s support of his country.
This is as Germany pledged a fresh package of weapons support worth 2.7 billion euros or just over 2.9 billion US dollars.
A day after his trip to Rome, Zelenskyy headed to Berlin marking his first visit to Germany since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war.
There, Zelenskyy had a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as well as Germany’s security cabinet.
And on Sunday evening, President Zelenskyy flew from the German capital to the city of Aachen with Scholz to collect the international Charlemagne prize on behalf of the Ukrainian people in honor of services to Europe.
Following this, Zelenskyy made a surprise stop in Paris and there, he was welcomed by none other than French President Emmanuel Macron, before meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom on Monday.
To note, Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom are members of the G7, and Zelenskyy’s visit to Europe comes just days before the said group’s summit that is set to take place in Hiroshima on Friday.
It can also be noted that all members of the G7 are calling for Russia to end its aggression and invasion of Ukraine while showing support for the latter country.
It is expected that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is top of the list of the summit’s discussions in Japan.
Zelenskyy has taken advantage of this Europe tour to push for sustained international backing for Ukraine ahead of an intensified period of military activity particularly in the city of Bakhmut, And Italy, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom all pledged fresh packages of military support for the war-torn country following the Ukrainian president’s visit.
