VATICAN CITY: US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one-on-one in a marble-lined Vatican basilica on Saturday (Apr 26) to try to revive faltering efforts to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.
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, and images of the meeting released by Kyiv and Washington.
The meeting at the Vatican, their first since an angry encounter in the Oval Office in Washington in February, comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
After Pope Francis’s funeral service, Trump boarded Air Force One and departed Rome. While in the air, he published a social media post in which he 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.
Following Trump’s remarks, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham said the Senate is poised to move forward on bipartisan legislation that would impose trade sanctions on countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other products.
