US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, met on Saturday before the funeral service for Pope Francis, with Trump later expressing doubt about Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan to end the war.
The Trump-Zelenskyy conversation on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they had a heated Oval Office exchange at the White House in February.
In historic photos made public by the Ukrainian government, the two leaders are seen sitting across from one another, eye-to-eye, in St. Peter's Basilica.
Zelenskyy described it as "a very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic if joint results are achieved".
"We discussed a lot one-on-one. Hoping for results on everything we covered," Zelenskyy said in a post on X, adding that "protecting the lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out."
The direct, impromptu meeting of the two leaders strongly contrasted with the public snipes of the last few days, raising hopes for an end to Russia's war on Ukraine.
However, after departing Rome following the late pontiff's funeral, the US president expressed new scepticism on social media that a peace deal can be reached soon.
Trump doubles down on Putin rebuke
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities, and towns over the last few days," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday afternoon.
“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!!!” the US leader wrote.
Trump's misgivings come as he and his senior aides intensify efforts to come to a deal that will end Moscow's war, which is now in its fourth year.
His latest comments also stood in sharp contrast to the positive assessment he made on Friday, saying the two sides were “very close to a deal” following US special envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting with Putin in Moscow.
Putin, who faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in his war in Ukraine, did not attend Pope Francis’ funeral.
In recent months, Moscow has ramped up its attacks on Ukraine. On Thursday, there was an attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv that killed at least 12 people.
Since Russia's war on Ukraine began in February 2022, Moscow has taken control of Ukrainian territory in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Crimea, a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine that was seized by Russia in 2014, has become one of the territories Trump has suggested Ukraine should give up in his peace plan to bring the war to an end.
President Zelenskyy has vowed not to cede any Ukrainian territory, stating it is against the Ukrainian constitution.
