U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Vatican City for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one on one in a marble-lined basilica on Saturday to try to revive faltering efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelenskyy said the meeting could prove historic if it delivers the kind of peace he is hoping for, and a White House spokesperson called it “very productive.”
The two leaders, leaning in close to each other with no aides around them while seated in St. Peter’s Basilica, spoke for about 15 minutes, according to Zelenskyy’s office. Images of the meeting were released by Kyiv and Washington.
It’s the first meeting between the two presidents since an angry encounter in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., in February and comes at a critical time in negotiations to end the war.
‘Too many people are dying,’ writes Trump
After Pope Francis’s funeral service in St. Peter’s Square, Trump boarded Air Force One and departed Rome. While in the air, he published a social media post that took a tough tone on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Twelve people were killed on Thursday when a missile fired by Russia hit a Kyiv apartment block.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s post was a departure from his usual rhetoric, which has seen the toughest criticism directed at Zelenskyy while he’s spoken positively about Putin.
In a post on social media platform Telegram, Zelenskyy wrote: “Good meeting. One-on-one, we managed to discuss a lot. We hope for a result from all the things that were spoken about.”
Zelenskyy thanks Trump after ‘symbolic’ meeting
The Ukraine president said those topics included: “The protection of the lives of our people. A complete and unconditional ceasefire. A reliable and lasting peace that will prevent a recurrence of war.”
Zelenskyy added: “It was a very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic if we achieve joint results. Thank you, President Donald Trump!”
In a photograph released by Zelenskyy’s office, the Ukrainian and U.S. leaders were sitting opposite each other in a hall of the basilica, around half a metre apart, and leaning in toward each other in conversation. No aides could be seen in the image.
In a second photograph, from the same location, Zelenskyy, Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were shown standing in a tight huddle. Macron had his hand on Zelenskyy’s shoulder.
After Trump and Zelenskyy met in the basilica, the two men joined other world leaders outside in St. Peter’s Square at the funeral ceremony for Pope Francis, who made the pursuit of peace, including in Ukraine, a motif of his papacy.
Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who gave the sermon at the funeral service, recalled how Francis didn’t stop raising his voice to call for negotiations to end conflicts.
“War always leaves the world worse than it was before: it is always a painful and tragic defeat for everyone,” the cardinal said.
Differences over territory
Trump has been pressing both Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire and peace deal. He had previously warned his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve peace if the two sides didn’t agree to a deal soon.
After a round of shuttle diplomacy this week, differences have emerged between the position of the Trump White House on peace talks and the stance of Ukraine and its European allies, according to documents from the talks that were obtained by Reuters.
Washington is proposing a legal recognition that Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, is Russian territory, something Kyiv and its allies in Europe say is a red line they won’t cross.
There are also differences on how quickly sanctions on Russia would be lifted if a peace deal was signed, what kind of security guarantees Ukraine would have and how Ukraine would be financially compensated.
Trump and Zelenskyy have had a rocky personal relationship. At their Oval Office meeting earlier this year, Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of “gambling with World War Three.”
As the U.S. attempts to push Ukraine toward a ceasefire, Russia appears to be heading in the opposite direction. CBC’s Terence McKenna examines the latest moves and why some think Vladimir Putin might be trying to manipulate Donald Trump through his billionaire real estate buddy.
Since then, Kyiv has tried to repair relations, but the barbs have continued.
Zelenskyy has said Trump was trapped in a “disinformation bubble” that favoured Moscow, while the U.S. leader accused Zelenskyy of foot-dragging on a peace deal and making “inflammatory” statements.
However, Trump requires Zelenskyy’s buy-in to achieve his stated ambition of bringing a swift peace between Russia and Ukraine, while Kyiv needs Trump to pressure Moscow into diluting some of the more onerous conditions it has set for a truce.
At the Oval Office meeting, a reporter from a conservative U.S. news network accused Zelenskyy of disrespecting the occasion by not wearing a suit.
Zelenskyy, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, has eschewed suits in favour of military-style attire, saying it is his way of showing solidarity with those in his country who are fighting to defend Ukraine.
In Rome on Saturday, Zelenskyy wore a dark shirt, buttoned up to the neck with no tie and topped with a dark military-style jacket.
In early 2024, in an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RSI, Pope Francis said he thought Ukraine should have “the courage of the white flag” and negotiate with Russia, with peace talks brokered by international powers.
The comments triggered an angry response, with Zelenskyy dismissing them as “virtual mediation” from a distant religious figure. Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radek Sikorski drew parallels between those calling for negotiations and European leaders’ “appeasement” of Adolf Hitler just before the Second World War.
The Vatican clarified the comments a few days later, saying the Pope did not mean for Ukraine to surrender.
