Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday met Pope Leo XIV at the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.

Zelensky is meeting Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni at the premier’s office in Rome later on Tuesday.

The visit comes for an especially difficult time for Zelensky after United States President Donald Trump criticised him and accused him of not having read the US plan to end the war with Russia.

On Monday Zelensky won support from other allies in a London meeting with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany and a Brussels encounter with the heads of the EU and of NATO.