DJT and Zelenskyy Meet Briefly on Sidelines of Pope’s Funeral

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Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met one-to-one for about 15 minutes in St. Peter’s Basilica shortly before the funeral for Pope Francis began.

Media photos showed the two face to face, leaning forward toward each other and appearing to talk intensely, sitting on two chairs in a large space with an ornate mosaic floor. Not shown was a third empty chair removed from the scene before the photos were taken.

The meeting occurred after the two had a brief hello with France’s President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer.

Unlike the public verbal ambush by Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office in February, this meeting appeared to produce more positive results. Until this moment, Zelenskyy had stayed away from any further meetings with USA officials, including an attempt by the UK to host peace talks regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

After his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy described it in positive terms.

Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, saying Russian attacks on civilians in Ukrainian cities “makes me think that maybe [Russia’s President Vladimir Putin] 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?'”.

Trump and Putin have repeatedly said at least a ceasefire deal and maybe even a peace deal is close, but each time Putin has pulled back from agreement, demanding more concessions.

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