Rome—Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly in St. Peter’s Basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican on Saturday in their first encounter since a White House clash as the US president pushes the Ukrainian leader to make a peace deal with Russia.
The two agreed to further talks after the funeral, the Ukraine president’s office said, after Zelensky’s aide described the first meeting as “constructive” and the White House called it “a very productive discussion.”
The Ukrainian presidency released photos of the two men sitting face to face, leaning forward in deep discussion in a corner of the basilica, before the start of the funeral.
Another photo showed the two leaders in a huddle inside the basilica with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, the French president’s hand on Zelensky’s shoulder.
Outside in St Peter’s Square, Trump rubbed shoulders with dozens of world leaders keen to bend his ear on the tariffs he has unleashed and other subjects.
But it was the meeting with Zelensky that drew the most interest as the US leader pushed the Ukrainian to make a peace deal with Russia.
“The meeting took place and is already over,” Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov told journalists without providing further detail.
White House communications director Steven Cheung also confirmed the meeting occurred, calling it “a very productive discussion” and saying more details would follow.
Trump and Zelensky, both accompanied by their wives, sat in the front row of the funeral in the square outside but were separated by nearly a dozen leaders. Zelensky glanced 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 Trump saying only it was “possible.”
Tensions have been high since Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28, calling him ungrateful for the billions of dollars of US military assistance given since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Trump, while calling on President Vladimir Putin to stop Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, has recently blamed Zelensky for the war and the continuing bloodshed.
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a conflict not seen in Europe for decades.
Trump has also pushed 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 Friday, Trump pushed for the 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.
Putin on Friday discussed the “possibility” of direct talks with Ukraine in a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
But Zelensky again rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up Crimea.
Witkoff’s meeting with Putin came just after a top Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow.
An increasingly frustrated Trump last week threatened to walk away from peace efforts if he does not see progress towards a ceasefire.
Trump last year promised 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.
