The president of the United States, Donald Trump, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had a “very productive” meeting on Saturday in Rome, said a White House official, since both leaders attended the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican.
Zelensky said his meeting with Trump could be historical if a peaceful end of the Ukraine War with Russia they discussed.
“Good meeting. One by one, we managed to discuss a lot. We expect a result of all the things that were discussed,” Zelensky wrote in a publication on the Telegram social networks.
He said these issues included “the protection of our people’s life. A high and unconditional fire. A reliable and lasting peace that will avoid a recurrence of war.”
Zelensky added: “It was a very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historical if we achieve joint results. Thank you, President Donald Trump!”
A spokesman for the Zelensky office said the two leaders, in a meeting in the Basilica of San Pedro that lasted about 15 minutes, agreed to have a second meeting later on Saturday, and that their teams were working on the arrangements for that.
The meeting in the Vatican, the first from an angry encounter in the Oval office in Washington in February, arrives at a critical moment in the negotiations aimed at ending the fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
“President Trump and President Zelensky met privately today and had a very productive discussion. They will follow more details about the meeting,” said Steven Cheung, communications director of the White House.
Zelensky’s Cabinet Chief Andriy Yermak described the meeting as “constructive” in a publication on social networks.
Zelensky’s office published photographs of the Rome meeting. In one, the Ukrainian and American leaders sat each other in front of the other in a large marble lined room, about two feet away, and leaned together in a conversation. You couldn’t see helpers in the image.
In a second photograph, from the same place, Zelensky, Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron were shown in a tight group. Macron had his hand on Zelenskiy’s shoulder.
Trump, who has been pressing both parties to accept the fire, said Friday that there were productive conversations between his envoy and Russian leadership, and requested a high -level meeting between kyiv and Moscow to close an agreement.
Trump had previously warned that his administration would move away from his efforts to achieve a peace if the two parties do not agree soon.
Differences on the territory
After a round of transport diplomacy this week, differences have emerged between the position of the White House about the peace conversations and the position of Ukraine and its European allies, according to documents of the conversations obtained by Reuters.
Washington proposes a legal recognition that Crimea, the Ukrainian Peninsula attached to Moscow in 2014, is Russian territory, something that kyiv and its allies in Europe say it is a red line that will not cross.
There are also differences on the speed with which the sanctions to Russia would rise if a peace agreement is signed, what type of security guarantees that Ukraine would have and how Ukraine would be financially compensated.
Trump and Zelensky have had a personal rock relationship. At his Oval office meeting, Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of “Games of Chance with World War Tres”.
Since then, Kyiv has tried to repair relationships, but the spikes have continued. Zelensky has said that Trump was caught in a “misinformation bubble” that favored Moscow, while the US leader accused Zelensky of dragging his feet in a peace agreement and making “inflammatory” statements.
But the two men need. Trump requires that Zelensky’s acceptance achieve his declared ambition to bring a quick peace between Russia and Ukraine, while kyiv needs Trump to press Moscow to dilute some of the most expensive conditions he has established for a truce.
At the Oval Office meeting in February, a reporter for a conservative American news network accused Zelensky of missing the occasion by not using a suit.
Zelensky, since the beginning of Russia’s large -scale invasion in 2022, has avoided the costumes in favor of military -style clothing, saying that it is his way of showing solidarity with his countrymen who fight to defend Ukraine.
In Rome on Saturday, Zelensky again decided against a suit, and in his place he wore a dark shirt, buttoned on his neck without a tie, and wore a dark military -style jacket on that.
