SINGAPORE - MINISTER for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam will begin a week-long trip to Ukraine, Italy and the Vatican City on Wednesday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Mr Shanmugam will be in the Ukraine capital of Kiev, where he is due to call on President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. He will also meet with Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.

Mr Shanmugam will then head to Italy, with a stop in Florence on Friday, where he has been invited to address the State of the Union Conference organised by the European University Institute (EUI).

The EUI is an international postgraduate and postdoctoral research institute established by European Union (EU) member states. Based in Florence, it is the premier institute of higher learning at the EU level.

As part of his final leg of the trip, Mr Shanmugam will head to the Vatican City and Rome from the Monday to Wednesday. In the Vatican city, he will hold separate meetings with the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher and Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy Cardinal George Pell.

He is also scheduled to have an audience with Pope Francis.

While in Rome, Mr Shanmugam will hold talks with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni.