Vatican, April 26 — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump met privately on Saturday in Vatican City ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Describing the meeting as “very symbolic” and laden with hope for “reliable and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy posted on X that they discussed “a lot one-on-one” and raised the need for protecting civilian lives.
“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,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“Very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you, POTUS,” reads his post.
This meeting comes a day after Trump blamed Zelenskyy for the Ukraine war, stating that Crimea will stay with Russia.
In February, tensions flared during a White House meeting where Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance criticized Zelenskyy over what they perceived as insufficient gratitude for American support.
During the same event, a U.S. reporter accused Zelenskyy of showing disrespect by not wearing formal attire, to which Zelenskyy replied, "I will wear a formal suit when the war is over."
Meanwhile, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said, “President Trump and President Zelenskyy met privately today and had a very productive discussion. More details about the meeting will follow.”