US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly inside St. Peter’s Basilica on April 26, during the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome. It was their first meeting since their tense encounter at the White House earlier this year. Both leaders described the exchange as positive and productive, and agreed to pursue further discussions, although a second bilateral meeting scheduled for later in the day did not occur due to scheduling conflicts.
This conversation follows a rare criticism of President Vladimir Putin by Trump on his Truth Social account, who expressed concerns about the recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian areas may and suggested this reflects a lack of genuine interest from the Russian leader in ending the war. Trump also floated on his social media the idea of introducing banking or secondary sanctions against Russia and urged high-level direct talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump and Zelensky also participated in a broader discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov stated that Russia is willing to resume negotiations without preconditions.
Zelensky reiterated his call for an unconditional ceasefire, rejecting any territorial concessions, including Crimea.