Trump, Zelensky hold 'productive' talks ahead of Pope's funeral in Rome
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have met one-on-one inside St Peter's Basilica, minutes before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican on Saturday.
The two leaders spoke for about 15 minutes while seated in St Peter's Basilica with no aides around them.
The White House said in a statement that Trump and Zelenskyy “had a very productive discussion. More details about the meeting will follow.”
The Ukrainian leader’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described the meeting as “constructive.” He said the two agreed to further talks.
Zelensky later thanked Trump for the “good meeting” in a post on social media platform X.
“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered.”
He wrote, “Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
The meeting at the Vatican comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump on Friday wrote on Truth Social that Kiev and Moscow “are very close to a deal” on a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict.
His comments came hours after his special envoy Steve Witkoff met with President Vladimir Putin of Russian in Moscow.
“Most of the major points are agreed to,” Trump said, adding that Friday was a “good day” of negotiations between the US and Russia.
The Kremlin has also described the talks as “constructive.”
Tensions between Trump and Zelensky were high since their last meeting in the Oval Office in Washington in February, when the Ukrainian president faced criticism from Trump and Vice President J D Vance over what they saw as a lack of gratitude for Washington’s support.
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