By Philip Pullella
ROME (Reuters) -Rome promised its full backing for Ukraine on Saturday as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy began a visit for talks with Italian officials and Pope Francis, who said in late April the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, on his first trip to Italy since Russia invaded in February last year, met President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace and then began a working lunch with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before he was due to head to the Vatican.
Mattarella reiterated Italy's full support for Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the short and long term, according to a source in the president's office.
He also told Zelenskiy that while everyone supporting Ukraine wanted peace, "It must be a true peace and not a surrender", the source said.
On Twitter, Zelenskiy called his visit to Italy and the Vatican "An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!"
As he headed to the presidential palace, Zelenskiy's motorcade passed by small groups of people holding Ukrainian flags. One person held up a sign condemning Russia.
Zelenskiy flew to Rome on an Italian government plane that was escorted over Italian airspace by fighter jets. He was due to go Germany either on Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Meloni visited Zelenskiy in Kyiv in February to assure him of Italy's continued support for Ukraine, despite some of her allies, most notably former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, having longstanding, close ties with Moscow.
The meeting with the pope is expected to be the most significant part of Zelenskiy's time in Italy. He previously met the pope at the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began.
INTRIGUING PAPAL 'MISSION'
At the start of the war, the pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefully condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.
Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican being involved in a mission to try to end the war. "There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters during his flight home.
Francis met this week with Russia's outgoing ambassador to the Vatican, Alexander Avdeyev, and the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that the Vatican may have given the envoy a letter for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Francis has pleaded for peace practically on a weekly basis, and has repeatedly expressed a wish to act as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow. His offer has so far failed to produce any breakthrough.
The pope has a standing invitation from Zelenskiy to visit Kyiv but the pope has said previously that he also wants to visit Moscow as part of the same peace mission.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met the pope at the Vatican on April 27 and said he had discussed a "peace formula" put forward by Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy and his team have been vigorously promoting Kyiv's 10-point peace plan and urging world leaders to hold a Global Peace Summit based on the proposals.
It calls for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiations.
The pope has said the Vatican is willing to do "all that is humanly possible" to help the repatriation of Ukrainian children. Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.
(Reporting by Philip PullellaAdditional reporting by Olena Harmash, Max Hunder, Gavin Jones and Giselda VagnoniEditing by Grant McCool, Frances Kerry and Helen Popper)