The U.S. President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky have met at the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican minutes before the start of Pope Francis' funeral this Saturday.
This is the first time they have seen each other since the humiliating argument at the White House and the abrupt end, without a common lunch, of that meeting at the end of February. On this occasion, the conversation has been "productive", as stated by the White House.
At the same time, Zelensky has stated that the meeting could be "historic" if the expected results are achieved on the topics they have discussed.
"A good meeting. We have talked a lot face to face. We expect results in everything we have covered. Protecting the lives of our people. A complete and unconditional ceasefire. A solid and lasting peace to prevent another war. A very symbolic meeting that has the potential to be historic if joint results are achieved. Thank you," Zelensky wrote on his social media.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian spokesperson Sergiy Nikiforov revealed that it was a 15-minute meeting.
"Words are unnecessary to describe the importance of this historic meeting. Two leaders working for peace in St. Peter's Basilica," wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga on X about the photographs showing Zelensky and Trump sitting face to face on the marble floor of the basilica.
Trump and Zelensky have agreed to continue their meeting once Pope Francis' funeral ends, which has brought together other world leaders with weight in peace negotiations, such as the British Keir Starmer and the French Emmanuel Macron, seated very close to both.
In fact, one of the images released by the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform shows Zelensky and Trump standing and talking with Macron and Starmer inside the Basilica.
As shared by the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs on his social media, Zelensky and Macron have met in Rome to discuss "the continuation of peace efforts" in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president attended the funeral wearing a black version of the already classic military attire he has kept in his wardrobe since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
These are decisive moments to achieve peace in Ukraine, although both parties have differences with the framework proposal sent by the U.S. Ukraine refuses to accept Crimea as officially Russian, while in other aspects, such as control of the territory occupied by Moscow, they disagree but are open to negotiation.
Both also have pending the signing of the agreement on mineral resources and rare earths, which Trump referred to on his social media platform Truth yesterday and asked Zelensky to sign "immediately".
In the case of Russia, the Kremlin refuses to accept a deployment of Western peace troops in Ukraine, another point within the U.S. proposal. It has not been revealed whether this was one of the points that U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff discussed with Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Russian autocrat.
In the coming days, both must reach a ceasefire if they do not want the United States, according to the warning from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to abandon the negotiation to focus on "more important and urgent issues".
During the homily, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re referred to war and unnecessary deaths. At that moment, the cameras focused on Zelensky and his wife, who accompanied him to the meeting, to whom he commented something.