US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky were seen holding a deep discussion in St Peter’s Basilica shortly before the Pope’s funeral began.
Shortly after the meeting, Trump said he feared Russia’s Vladimir Putin was “tapping me along” after Moscow’s strikes on Kyiv earlier this week, adding there was “no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas”.
Trump has also questioned Putin’s willingness to end the war in Ukraine following his meeting with the country’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral.
Trump’s 15-minute meeting with Zelensky has been described by the White House as “very productive”. This was the first face-to-face encounter with the two leaders since February’s controversial Oval Office showdown.
“No words are needed to describe the importance of this historic meeting. Two leaders working for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
The US leader said the Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities “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?’”.
Trump had previously said Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal” following three-hour talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president on Friday.
The Kremlin meanwhile said on Saturday that Putin had confirmed Russia’s readiness to enter into direct talks with Ukraine “without preconditions” to Witkoff.
Trump has previously blamed Ukraine for starting the war and has accused Zelensky multiple times of being an obstacle to peace negotiations.