Rome: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly in the silence of the Basilica of San Pedro before Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday in his first encounter, since a noisy shock from the White House and the president of the United States then show doubts about whether the Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants a peace agreement.
Zelensky said they discussed a possible unconditional fire with Russia and “expected the results” of a “very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic.” After leaving Rome, Trump indicated a new approach to the Russian president.
“There was no reason for Putin to shoot missiles in civil areas, cities and towns, in recent days,” Trump said in a publication about his real social platform. “It makes me think that perhaps he does not want to stop war, he is just taking advantage of me and has to be treated differently, through ‘banking’ or ‘secondary sanctions’? Too many people are dying!” War threw a shadow on Francis’s funeral.
When it happened, Russia said that their forces had “completely released” the border region of Kursk. However, Ukraine insisted that his army was still fighting in Kursk, a Russian territory that he hopes to use as a negotiation chip in any future peace conversation.
Trump and Zelensky sat down face to face, leaning forward in a deep discussion in a corner of the basilica, while the Pope’s wooden coffin lay against the altar before the funeral began, according to images published by the Ukrainian presidency.
“We discussed a one by one. Waiting for results about everything we cover. Protecting the life of our people. The high and unconditional fire. The reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from exploding,” Zelensky wrote about X. A Zelensky assistant described the meeting as “constructive” and the White House called it “a very productive discussion.”
The president of the United States was flying from Rome immediately after the funeral mass and there were no more talks. But the two leaders also grave briefly within the basilica with the British prime minister Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron.
Macron’s office described the exchanges as “positive” and then met Zelensky one by one. Great Britain said that Starmer and Zelensky “discussed the positive progress made in recent days” and agreed to “continue working intensely with international partners to advance the next stages of planning.”
In the Plaza de San Pedro, Trump rubbed shoulders with several world leaders, many eager to raise the tariffs he has unleashed. But it was the meeting with Zelensky that attracted the greatest interest when the US leader presses by a peace agreement.
Both parties had maintained the prospects of a vague meeting before the funeral with Trump saying that it was only “possible.”
The tensions had been high since Trump and vice president JD Vance rebuked Zelensky in the Oval office on February 28, calling him displeased by the billions of dollars of US military assistance granted since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Trump, while asking Putin to stop Russia’s attacks, recently blamed Zelensky for war and the continuous bloodshed. Russia launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which caused a conflict that has left tens of thousands of dead.
Trump has pushed Zelensky to accept concessions such as recognizing that Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, will remain in Russian hands under any agreement to stop the conflict.
After arriving in Rome, Trump said there had been progress in the conversations and pushed Russian and Ukrainian leaders gather.
“They are very close to an agreement, and the two parties should now be found, at very high levels, to ‘finish it,” he published on his real social platform. “Most of the main points are agreed,” he said.
Posted in Dawn, April 27, 2025
