U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a private talk on the sidelines of the Pope Francis funeral at the Vatican, BBC reported.
The two men had a 15-minute private discussion in a hall of the St. Peter’s Basilica which the White House described as “very productive” while Zelensky called it “very symbolic” with the potential to “become historic”.
The Trump-Zelensky conversation took place a little before the funeral ceremony would start, according to the BBC.
The two leaders are seen conversing alone without aides around them in the photos released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service.
“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered,” Zelensky wrote. “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.”
Ahead of the president’s brief visit to Rome, officials had downplayed the prospect of the Trump-Zelensky talk or the U.S. President meeting with another state leader. That was mainly due to the limited time frame for memorializing the late pope.
Good meeting. 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. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to… pic.twitter.com/q4ZhVXCjw0
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 26, 2025
On Friday, Trump said that Russia and Ukraine are very close to a deal. That was in contrast to a previous week statement that the U.S. would walk away from the talks “within days” if it becomes clear a deal cannot be reached.
Prior to arriving in Rome, Trump posted on Truth Social: “A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off.’”
This was after Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours on Friday. The Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said the talks were “constructive and very useful,” CNN reports.
On Friday, Zelensky said, “We are ready for dialogue, I emphasize again, in any format with anyone, only after a real signal that Russia is ready to end the war. Such a signal is a complete and unconditional ceasefire.”
Following the Pope Francis funeral and the Trump-Zerlensky impromptu meeting, the U.S. President criticized Russia for the recent missile attack on Kyiv that killed 12 people and injured 87 on Thursday night.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. 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!!!”
