Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the potential for “reliable and lasting peace” after speaking with US President Donald Trump at the Vatican.
“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered,” Zelenskiy said on X. “Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
The 15-minute meeting took place just before the funeral for Pope Francis as Trump presses for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia to end the longest European conflict since WW2. The White House said Trump and Zelenskiy had a “productive discussion.”
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s presidential office said teams were working to organize a continuation of the talks on Saturday. It wasn’t clear what format a second meeting would take; Trump is now flying back to the US.
Their encounter came as Trump dials up pressure for a peace deal that critics fear may favor Russia in his bid to reach an accord by April 30, the 100-day mark of his second term in the White House.
Saturday’s meeting was the first since contentious talks in the Oval Office in late February.
Zelenskiy also met in Rome with French President Emmanuel Macron and plans to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine’s foreign minister said.
Pope Francis’s funeral was attended by dozens of international delegations, many of whom were hopeful of getting access to the US leader, who made his first overseas trip since taking office in January.
Zelenskiy’s trip to the Vatican followed a massive Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least 12 people. Thursday’s attack, Russia’s largest airstrike on Ukraine this year so far, prompted the Ukrainian leader to return early from a visit to South Africa.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday for the fourth time since the inauguration. On the same day, Zelenskiy appeared to make an overture to Trump when he acknowledged that Ukrainian forces would be unable to regain control over Crimea, saying the US wouldn’t have to commit troops as part of security guarantees but could instead provide intelligence and anti-air capabilities.
Washington’s proposals include the recognition of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and freezing the conflict largely along existing battle lines, leaving Putin in control of large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. Kyiv would also be required to abandon its goal of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Trump said Thursday that he’s “using a lot of pressure on both” sides in the war. He said he thinks Putin “wants to make a deal. We’re going to find out very soon.” Asked what concessions Russia has offered, Trump said, “Stopping the war, stopping taking the whole country — pretty big concession.”
Moscow failed to seize Ukraine’s capital and topple its government when it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 — in what was conceived as a potential weeks-long “special military operation” — because of strong resistance from Kyiv.
While the Russian army now controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, it hasn’t significantly advanced during the last two years. Kremlin forces seized less than 1% of Ukrainian land in 2024 despite huge losses in personnel and equipment during a grinding ground campaign in Ukraine’s east.
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