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LAST UPDATE | 26 Apr
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy has said he had a “good meeting” with US President Donald Trump this morning, which has the potential “to become historic”.
The two leaders met for a 15-minute exchange before the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, which was described as “productive” by the US.
It is the first time they have met face-to-face since Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February, calling him ungrateful for the US military assistance given since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Images were shared by the Ukrainian presidency’s press office showing the two men sitting opposite one another on chairs inside the basilica, looking engrossed in conversation.
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
“Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on X.
“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,” he said, thanking Trump for the meeting.
Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.
Footage of the meeting was shared on social media by a White House staffer.
A Ukrainian spokesman earlier said that Trump and Zelenskyy had agreed to continue their discussions, with teams “working on organising the continuation of the meeting”.
It was initially reported that a second meeting between the two men could take place today.
However, Kyiv has since confirmed that a second meeting did not take place.
Behind Scenes, Vatican City—President Trump sat down to meet privately with Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine this morning in St. Peter’s Basilica… pic.twitter.com/zzC78AgbNh
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) April 26, 2025
“There was no second meeting. The presidents’ schedules are very busy,” Zelenskyy’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov told journalists.
Trump left Italy on Air Force One shortly before the Pope was buried in a private ceremony in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
White House communications director Steven Cheung called the meeting “a very productive discussion”, saying more details would follow.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump criticised Vladimir Putin for the Russian strikes on Kyiv in recent days that killed 12 people.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” he said.
“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!!!”.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Putin told US envoy Steve Witkoff at a meeting on Friday that Russia “is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions”, adding that Putin has repeated that several times in the past.
Happening now: @ZelenskyyUa and @EmmanuelMacron having a tête-à-tête about further peace efforts. pic.twitter.com/YvmIVLaF5e
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) April 26, 2025
Zelenskyy held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Rome, where they discussed “further peace efforts”.
In a separate meeting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the pair discussed “positive progress made in recent days to secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” according to a UK government spokesperson.
“They agreed to maintain momentum and continue working intensively with international partners to drive forward the next stages of planning,” the statement added.
An EU spokesperson has confirmed that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also meet Zelenskyy this afternoon.
She and Trump have also agreed to meet. “In their brief exchange, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet,” Commission spokesperson Paula Pinha said without giving a precise date.
Efforts remain underway to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
Trump and Zelenskyy sat in the front row of the funeral in St Peter’s Square but were separated by nearly a dozen leaders. Zelenskyy glanced Trump’s way, but they were not seen to meet in public.
Both sides had kept the prospects of a meeting vague ahead of the funeral with Trump saying only it was “possible”.
Trump, while calling on President Vladimir Putin to stop Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, has recently blamed Zelenskyy for the war and the continuing bloodshed.
Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump has also pushed Zelenskyy to accept previously unpalatable concessions such as acknowledging that Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014, will remain in Russian hands under any deal to stop the conflict.
Arriving in Rome late yesterday, Trump pushed for the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet after what he said was progress in talks.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
“Most of the major points are agreed to,” he said.
Putin on Friday discussed the “possibility” of direct talks with Ukraine in a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
But Zelenskyy again rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up Crimea.
Witkoff’s meeting with Putin came just after a top Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow.
An increasingly frustrated Trump last week threatened to walk away from peace efforts if he does not see progress towards a ceasefire.
Trump last year promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if elected president, though he said in a Time magazine interview this week that he was speaking “in jest”.
With reporting from © AFP 2025
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