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President Volodymyr Zelensky met U.S. President Donald Trump in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on April 26, with the two sides praising the meeting as productive and constructive.
Trump and Zelensky were among the many leaders who arrived in Vatican City to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on April 21 after suffering a stroke, aged 88. Around 200,000 people flocked to Vatican City to bid farewell to the late pontiff.
"President Trump and President Zelensky met privately today and had a very productive discussion," White House communications director Steven Cheung said, promising more details later, AFP reported.
Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak said the discussions were "constructive" but did not provide specifics.
Trump and Zelensky have not met in person since a tense February meeting in the Oval Office, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelensky for what they called a lack of gratitude for U.S. support in Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
The U.S. president sought to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, with his approach being seen as favoring Moscow while exerting considerably greater pressure on Kyiv.
"Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered," Zelensky said after the meeting.
"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."
Sky News reported at 1:10 p.m. local time that Trump is heading back to the U.S. after meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. An undisclosed source told RBC-Ukraine that the expected second meeting after the funeral service did not take place, adding that the "main issue" had already been discussed.
Trump has ramped up pressure on Ukraine and Zelensky to accept his proposal on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, which reportedly includes the U.S. de jure recognizing Russian occupation of Crimea and de facto accepting Moscow's hold over other occupied territories in the east and south.
Kyiv and its European allies have pitched their counter-proposal, which pushes for firm security guarantees and insists that territorial questions should only be addressed after a full ceasefire and start from the basis of the line of control.
European officials were pushing for a meeting between Zelensky and Trump in the Vatican to smooth out the differences and break the deadlock in peace talks.
Kateryna Denisova
