The Kabul Tribune (KT) \u2014 Reuters has reported that U.S.
\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Rome this week for high-level meetings
\nwith Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, amid growing tensions
\nbetween Washington and its traditional allies.<\/p>\n
Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser to
\nDonald Trump, is expected to visit Italy and the Vatican from Wednesday to
\nFriday to discuss bilateral relations and key international issues, according
\nto the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Rubio would
\nmeet Vatican officials to address developments in the Middle East and shared
\ninterests in the Western Hemisphere, with discussions potentially including
\nU.S. tensions with Cuba.<\/p>\n
The visit comes amid an unprecedented public rift between
\nWashington and the Vatican. Trump has criticized Pope Leo on social media after
\nthe pontiff spoke out against the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and other
\nadministration policies. Italian officials, including Meloni, have defended the
\nPope, while Italy\u2019s defense leadership has warned that the conflict could
\nundermine U.S. global leadership.<\/p>\n
The Vatican confirmed that Pope Leo is scheduled to meet
\nRubio on Thursday. The Pope, who marks his first year leading the Catholic
\nChurch this week, has recently taken a more outspoken stance on global issues,
\nparticularly criticizing the war in Iran and U.S. immigration policies.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s criticism of the Pope in April, including calling
\nhim \u201cterrible,\u201d drew backlash from Christian communities across political
\nlines. Pope Leo has also called for dialogue between the United States and Cuba
\nand expressed concern over rising tensions following Washington\u2019s tightening of
\nrestrictions on the island nation.<\/p>\n
In March, Cuba released dozens of prisoners under an
\nagreement with the Vatican, while the Church has facilitated humanitarian
\nassistance on behalf of the United States.<\/p>\n
Rubio, whose family has Cuban roots, last met Pope Leo in
\nMay 2025 alongside Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n
Rubio is also expected to meet Meloni and Italian Foreign
\nMinister Antonio Tajani on Friday, with talks focusing on security cooperation
\nand strategic coordination.<\/p>\n
The meetings come as tensions grow between Washington and
\nits NATO allies, with Trump criticizing European partners for what he described
\nas insufficient support in the Iran conflict. He has also indicated plans to
\nwithdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany and potentially reconsider troop
\ndeployments in Spain and Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kabul Tribune (KT) \u2014 Reuters has reported that U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3242,3241,3240,3239,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-12697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rome","8":"tag-afghan-news","9":"tag-afghanistan-news","10":"tag-kabul-tribune","11":"tag-kt","12":"tag-rome"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}