April 26 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, while attending Pope Francis funeral at the Vatican, participated in a “very productive” meeting, the White House said Saturday.
Their first head-to-head meeting since February lasted about 15 minutes and they agreed to continue talks, officials from Ukraine and the United States told CNN.
The two leaders didn’t sit near each other during the outdoor funeral.
The seating, which was arranged by country name in French, had Trump’s position alongside the Estonian and Finnish leaders.
Both leaders appeared with French President Emmanuel Macron during the funeral.
Zelensky and Trump posted on social media after the funeral. They both posted photos of them alone sitting near a small table indoors.
“We discussed a lot one on one,” Zelensky wrote 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. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you @Potus.”
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
Trump also posted a photo of him during the meeting.
After the funeral, Trump didn’t mention Zelensky but lashed out at New York Times reporter Peter Baker, former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a 517-word Truth Social post.
“No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is, even if it’s the greatest deal ever made, The Failing New York Times will speak badly of it,” he posted on Truth Social,” he wrote.
“Liddle’ Peter Baker, the very biased and untalented writer for The Times, followed his Editor’s demands and wrote that Ukraine should get back territory, including, I suppose, Crimea, and other ridiculous requests, in order to stop the killing that is worse than anything since World War II.”
He then criticized former Obama and Biden.
“This is Sleepy Joe Biden’s War, not mine. It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened if I were President at the time. I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is.”
Trump then took aim at Putin.
“With all of that being said, there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. 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!!!”
It was the first time they saw each other since Feb. 28 in the White House’s Oval Office. The meeting became a shouting match where Trump, pointing his finger, accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”
They were supposed to sign an agreement on mineral rights. A joint news conference between the two leaders was canceled after the 45-minute Oval Office session with media members observing.
Trump then paused military aid, including providing Ukraine with intelligence.
U.S. assistance resumed after Kyiv accepted a U.S.-proposed partial cease-fire, and giving up mineral rights to the United States. Russia rejected it.
On Wednesday, Trump accused Zelensky of jeopardizing peace talks to end the war because the European nation would never recognize Russia’s occupation of the Crimean Peninsula.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said a peace deal was “very close” but “it’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about!”
The Crimea Peninsula, which is roughly the size of Maryland and surrounded by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, was occupied by Russia in February 2014 and then annexed. This was before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday at a news conference in Kyiv that Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. “There is nothing to talk about,” he said. “This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine.”
On Friday, Zelensky said his country doesn’t have the military force to take back Crimea.
The United States has been attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
On Friday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met the Russian president in Moscow for three hours.
After Air Force One landed in Rome on Friday, he posted on Truth Social: “A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off.’ Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Saturday all Ukrainian troops had been forced from Russia’s Kursk region. Ukrainian officials denied the claim.
On Thursday, Russia launched 70 missiles and 145 drones, mostly towards Kyiv.
Trump later wrote on Truth Social that he was “not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”
