PRESIDENT Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, marking their first physical encounter since a tense White House meeting in February.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian presidency, Sergiy Nykyforov, said the two leaders met briefly on the sidelines before the funeral mass began.
“The meeting took place and is already over,” Nykyforov told journalists without providing further details.
White House communications director, Steven Cheung, also confirmed the meeting, describing it as “a very productive discussion,” noting that more details would be provided later.
The ICIR reports that tensions have remained high since February 28, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticised Zelensky in the Oval Office, accusing him of being ungrateful for the billions of dollars in US military aid provided since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
However, Trump and Zelensky agreed to collaborate and end the war with Russia in a phone conversation for the first time after the Oval Office clash.
While urging President Vladimir Putin to halt Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, Trump has recently blamed Zelensky for the war and the ongoing bloodshed.
Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked a conflict not seen in Europe for decades.
Trump has also pressured Zelensky to accept once-unacceptable concessions, such as recognising that Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014, will remain under Russian control as part of any deal to end the conflict.
Arriving in Rome late Friday, Trump called for a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, citing what he described as progress in talks.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “Most of the major points are agreed upon.”
On Friday, Putin discussed the “possibility” of direct talks with Ukraine during a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
However, Zelensky once again rejected suggestions that Ukraine surrender Crimea.
Witkoff’s meeting with Putin took place shortly after a top Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow.
An increasingly frustrated Trump threatened last week to abandon peace efforts if he did not see progress toward a ceasefire.
Last year, Trump promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if elected president, though he clarified in a Time magazine interview this week that he was speaking “in jest.”
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.