Meloni in Kyiv 'to see what Ukrainian people need'

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 21 - Premier Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday that she was visiting Ukraine to reiterate her government's support for Kyiv after the Russian invasion and see first-hand what sort of help the Ukrainian people need.
    "I am honoured," Meloni said as she got off the train in which she arrived in Kyiv.
    "I think it is my duty to be here to reiterate the position of the Italian government and perhaps also to personally understand what a people fighting for its freedom needs.
    "It's always different when you see things with your own eyes and I think it (this visit) also helps the Italian people to understand.
    "I'm curious and determined to understand what this people needs".
    Her visit comes just days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. She will go to Bucha and Irpin, two cities of huge symbolic importance for the Ukrainian resistance where hundreds of civilians were killed, and have talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the afternoon.
    Meloni, who was sworn in as Italy's first woman premier last October, has continued the policy of her predecessor, ex-premier Mario Draghi, of staunchly supporting Kyiv and sending military aid.
    She is expected to stress to Zelensky that Italy's support for Kyiv will be unwavering as long as she is in charge.
    Her visit comes after furore over comments critical of Zelensky by ex-premier and Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi, one of her alliance partners.
    Another, Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, has expressed reservations in the past about the policy of sending military aid to Ukraine.
    League leader Salvini, who used to be an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has criticised Moscow's invasion of its neighbour. (ANSA).