Volodymyr Zelensky meets Donald Trump in Rome: Ukrainian spokesman
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US President Donald Trump (left) and US First Lady Melania Trump (centre) arriving at the Vatican on April 26.
PHOTO: AFP
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KYIV - US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly at Pope Francis’ funeral on April 26, Kyiv said, marking their first encounter since a disastrous White House clash as the US leader pushes him to make a peace deal with Russia.
Mr Trump was rubbing shoulders with dozens of world leaders at St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City keen to bend his ear on the tariffs he has unleashed and other subjects.
But it was the meeting with Mr Zelensky that drew the most interest, as the US leader pushes the Ukrainian to make a peace deal with Russia.
The two leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the funeral before it started, a spokesman for the Ukrainian presidency said.
“The meeting took place and is already over,” Mr Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov told journalists without providing further details.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky, both accompanied by their wives, sat in the front row of the funeral in St Peter’s Square but were separated by nearly a dozen leaders. Mr Zelensky glanced Mr Trump’s way, but they were not seen to meet in public.
Both sides had kept the prospects of a meeting vague ahead of the funeral with Mr Trump saying only it was “possible”.
The White House said on April 26 that the US leader and the Ukraine President had a “very productive” meeting ahead of the funeral of the pope.
“President Trump and President Zelensky met privately today and had a very productive discussion,” said White House communications director Steven Cheung, saying more details would follow.
Tensions have been high since Mr Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance berated Mr Zelensky in the Oval Office
Mr Trump, while calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, has recently blamed Mr Zelensky for the war and the continuing bloodshed.
He has also pushed Mr Zelensky to accept previously unpalatable concessions, such as acknowledging that Crimea – which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014 – will remain in Russian hands under any deal to stop the conflict.
Arriving in Rome late on April 25 to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, Mr Trump pushed for Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet after what he said was 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 to,” he said.
Mr Putin on April 25 meanwhile discussed the “possibility” of direct talks with Ukraine in a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
But Mr Zelensky again rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up Crimea, and Mr Witkoff’s meeting with Mr Putin came just after a top Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow.
An increasingly frustrated Mr Trump last week threatened to walk away from peace efforts if he does not see progress towards a ceasefire.
The 78-year-old promised in 2024 to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if elected president, though he said in a Time magazine interview this week that he was speaking “in jest”. AFP
