United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one-on-one in a marble-lined Vatican basilica on Saturday to try to revive faltering efforts to end Russias war with Ukraine.Zelenskiy said the meeting could prove historic if it delivers the kind of peace he is hoping for, and a White House spokesman called it very productive.The two leaders, leaning in close to each other with no aides around them while seated in St Peters Basilica, spoke for about 15 minutes, according to Zelenskiys office, which also released photographs of the meeting.The meeting at the Vatican, their first since an angry encounter in the Oval Office in Washington in February, comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to fighting between Ukraine and Russia.In a post on social media platform Telegram, Zelenskiy wrote: Good meeting.
One-on-one, we managed to discuss a lot.
We hope for a result from all the things that were spoken about.He said those topics included: The protection of the lives of our people.
A complete and unconditional ceasefire.
A reliable and lasting peace that will prevent a recurrence of war.Zelenskiy added: It was a very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic if we achieve joint results.
Thank you, President Donald Trump!Steven Cheung, White House communications director, said the two leaders had met privately and had a very productive discussion.
More details about the meeting will follow.In one photograph released by Zelenskiys office, the Ukrainian and United States leaders sat opposite each other in a hall of the basilica, around two feet apart, and were leaning in towards each other in conversation.
No aides could be seen in the image.In a second photograph, from the same location, Zelenskiy, Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were shown standing in a tight huddle.
Macron had his hand on Zelenskiys shoulder.After Trump and Zelenskiy met in the basilica, the two men joined other world leaders outside in Saint Peters Square at the funeral service for Pope Francis, who made the pursuit of peace, including in Ukraine, a motif of his papacy.Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who gave the sermon at the funeral service, recalled how Pope Francis did not stop raising his voice to call for negotiations to end conflicts.War always leaves the world worse than it was before: it is always a painful and tragic defeat for everyone, the cardinal said.A Zelenskiy spokesman had earlier said aides to the two leaders were working on arrangements for a follow-up meeting in Rome later on Saturday.
The spokesman subsequently said, after Trumps aircraft took off from Rome, that the second meeting did not happen, citing the presidents tight schedules.Trump, who has been pressing both sides to agree a ceasefire, said on Friday that there had been productive talks between his envoy and the Russian leadership in Moscow, and called for a high-level meeting between Kyiv and Moscow to close a deal.Trump had previously warned his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.(Reuters)The post Trump and Zelenskiy meet one-on-one in Vatican basilica to seek Ukraine peace first appeared on TINS News.