Vance Meets With Italy’s Meloni in Trip to Rome, Vatican

The practicing Catholic also participated in a Good Friday service at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni welcomes U.S. Vice President JD Vance at Palazzo Chigi prior their meeting in Rome on April 18, 2025. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President JD Vance continued bilateral discussions with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on April 18 in Rome, kicking off a diplomatic trip to both Italy and Vatican City that will run through Easter Sunday.

“We have a couple of important issues to discuss today,” Vance said before their meeting. ”I want to update the prime minister on some of the negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and also some of the things that have happened even in the past 24 hours. We think we have some interesting things to report on, of course, in private.”