Report: Italy to reopen embassy in Kyiv

Italy's foreign minister has reportedly told staff that Italy will reopen its embassy in the Ukrainian capital after Easter.

News agency ANSA quoted Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Saturday as telling his ministry's crisis unit that Italy “will be among the first to return” to Kyiv.

He called it “another gesture to demonstrate support for the Ukrainian population, a concrete way to affirm that diplomacy must prevail”.

Di Maio said the return would be coordinated with other European Union nations.

The EU itself announced the return of its ambassador on Friday. On Saturday, EU ambassador Matti Maasikas tweeted a picture of an EU flag atop a flagpole with the words “First things first”.