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Topics: Donald Trump, Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Francis
Joe Yates
Topics: Donald Trump, Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Francis
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken out after he and President Donald Trump were pictured in a 'meeting' at Pope Francis' funeral.
The pair are in the Vatican City today (April 26) attending the late pontiff's funeral, having died on Easter Monday (April 21), at the age of 88.
It is the first time Trump and Zelenskyy have met face-to-face since their explosive discussion they had in front of national television in the Oval Office back in February.
The 78-year-old Republican president has criticized his Ukrainian counterpart numerous times since taking post, but from all accounts they have buried the hatchet.
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Taking to Twitter to reflect on their meeting, Zelenskyy wrote: "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 become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you @POTUS."
A photograph of the two leaders showed them sat opposite one another on chairs within St Peter’s Basilica.
The US has been pressing Ukraine to accept a peace deal, which would require Kyiv to accept Russian control of vast swathes of occupied land.
Zelenskyy has insisted he will not recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the region occupied by Moscow’s forces since 2014, nor continued Kremlin control in Ukraine’s south and east.
He has called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to instead accept an unconditional end to the fighting.
The Ukrainian leader and his American counterpart met ahead of the funeral, officials from both the White House and Kyiv said.
The pair 'had a very productive discussion', White House communications director Steven Cheung said.
While Zelensky’s spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said the meeting lasted around 15 minutes.
More details are expected later today, and further discussions are also likely to take place while both leaders are in Rome.
Taking to Truth Social yesterday, Trump confirmed that he had touched down in Italy, while touching on the peace deal the Trump administration have been trying to broker between Russia and Ukraine.
"Just landed in Rome. 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," he wrote.
"Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!"