Lorenzo Guerini, Minister of Defence of the current Italian government, arrived in Ukraine on Thursday, where he held a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time.

"I am thankful to Minister of Defense of Italy Lorenzo Guerini for the meaningful meeting. Thank you to your government. We feel the constant support for our sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for the struggle for our existence, from Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the government, and the Italian people," Zelensky said at the meeting.

As the Italian Minister of Defence stated, he visited Hostomel, Kyiv region, where he saw with his own eyes the destruction caused by the Russian army during the offensive.

Lorenzo Guerini is also to discuss with his Ukrainian colleague Oleksiy Reznikov the strengthening of military support for Kyiv.

This is the first visit to Ukraine for the Minister of Defence of Italy.

As previously reported, since the full-scale invasion of Russia, Italy has provided Ukraine with at least four packages of military aid, including military equipment, materials, and equipment.