Italy's Meloni in surprise Ukraine visit as cracks in her coalition govt surface

The list of national leaders showing support for Kyiv by visiting amid the challenges of the Russia-Ukraine conflict lengthened on Tuesday with the arrival of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Following United States President Joe Biden's visit on Monday, Meloni's trip was aimed at reiterating the NATO member state's support for Ukraine and was described by The Guardian newspaper as Meloni's most significant move since coming to power in October.

She said her nation had "provided financial, military, humanitarian, and civilian support" to Ukraine.

"And Ukraine can certainly count on Italy, because we have shown since the start ... that we were here (for Kyiv) and we will continue to be here," the Agence France-Presse news agency, or AFP, quoted her as saying.

As she arrived in Kyiv, Meloni said she was "honored" to be in the country, and that it was her "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 was also a chance for Rome to distance itself from comments made last week by Meloni's rightwing junior coalition partner, Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi, blaming Ukraine for the conflict.

Sofia Ventura, a politics professor at the University of Bologna, told The Guardian Meloni wanted to make it clear she did not share Berlusconi's view.

"It is a really important trip for Meloni, as she needs to show her reliability to (President Volodymyr) Zelensky, but more so to her US and European partners," Ventura said. "And she needs to do this knowing that her two allies (within her coalition government) are unreliable, due to their relations with Russia."

Berlusconi, a billionaire businessman and Italy's former prime minister, is a close friend of Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Italy's Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini has also expressed admiration for Putin and reservations about Italy's support for Ukraine.

Additionally, a recent opinion poll found more than 50 percent of Italians are against sending weapons to Ukraine and are skeptical about the need for sanctions.

The poll, conducted by Euromedia Research on Jan 24, found many Italians feared support for Ukraine would lead to an escalation of the conflict and possible NATO involvement.

Only 33.9 percent fully supported the sending of weapons.

On Monday, Zelensky told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera he had put Berlusconi and Salvini's comments behind him.

The Italian news agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, or ANSA, said Meloni and her delegation wanted to make the visit ahead of the Feb 24 anniversary of the start of the conflict, to show Rome's continued support.

ANSA said the delegation crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border after meeting Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and President Andrzej Duda, who are staunch supporters of Ukraine.

Mario Draghi, Meloni's predecessor, made a similar visit, in July 2022, alongside France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz.