Trump and Zelenskyy Briefly Discuss the Russia-Ukraine War While at Pope Francis’ Funeral

BY  DARLENE SUPERVILLE

ROME (AP) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met briefly Saturday before the funeral for Pope Francis as the American leader steps up the pressure to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

It was the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and the Ukrainian leader since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in late February.

Zelenskyy’s office had said teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday, but Trump went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One for the 10-hour flight back to the United States, which seemed to rule out a second in-person conversation. Zelenskyy’s spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said Trump and Zelenskyy did not meet again in person because of their tight schedules.

Zelenskyy said “good meeting” on social media after the funeral.

“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” he said on X. “Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you.”

The White House called the discussion “very productive” and said it would release more details later. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where Francis often preached the need for a peaceful end to the war, just before Trump and Zelenskyy took their seats at the outdoor funeral service.

The Vatican long ago had offered to help facilitate peace talks and Francis had regularly called for peace and dialogue from the altar of the basilica. That Trump and Zelenskyy spoke privately, face to face and hunched over on chairs on the marbled floors of the pope’s home, on the day of his funeral, was perhaps a fitting way to honor his wishes.

The meeting came together hours after Trump said on social media, after he arrived in Italy late Friday, that Russia and Ukraine should meet for “very high level talks” on ending the three-year war that was sparked by Russia’s invasion.

Trump has pressed both sides to quickly come to an agreement to end the war, but while Zelenskyy agreed to an American plan for an initial 30-day halt to hostilities, Russia has not signed on and has continued to strike at targets inside Ukraine.

Last week’s hourslong missile and drone barrage of Kyiv that killed at least 12 people led Trump to appeal over social media for Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the strikes on Ukraine’s capital.

“ Vladimir, STOP!” Trump wrote.

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had met earlier on Friday with Putin in Moscow, and Trump said both sides were “very close to a deal.”

Putin did not attend Francis’ funeral. He faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, which has accused him of war crimes stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in a statement Friday night, Zelenskyy said “very significant meetings may take place” in the coming days, and that an unconditional ceasefire was needed.

“Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move towards peace, or our proposal — whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, and then — a dignified peace and security guarantees,” he said.

“Diplomacy must succeed. And we are doing everything to make diplomacy truly meaningful and finally effective.”

The meeting Saturday also came shortly after Trump had issued his most definitive statement to date about the need for Ukraine to give up territory to Russia to bring the war to a close. He said in a Time magazine interview published Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia.”

Russia seized the strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. Zelenskyy wants to regain Crimea and other Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, but Trump considers that demand to be unrealistic.

Referring to Crimea during the interview, which was conducted at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said, “everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” meaning Russia.

——

Associated Press journalists Nicole Winfield in Vatican City and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.