Trump and Zelenskyy meet at Vatican for first time since Oval Office shouting match

In their first meeting since a shouting match in the Oval Office, President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat face-to-face on simple chairs on marble floors near the Baptistery Chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The two leaders were among the 54 heads of state gathered in Rome for the funeral of the leader of the Catholic Church. The White House described the 15-minute meeting in St Peter’s Basilica as “very productive” and Zelensky later called it “very symbolic” with the “potential to become historic”.

Zelenskyy said it was a “good meeting” and that they “discussed a lot one-on-one.” The White House called it “a very productive discussion.” “President Trump and President Zelenskyy met privately today and had a very productive discussion,” said Steven Cheung, White House communications director. “More details about the meeting will follow,” he said.

After leaving Rome later in the day, Trump took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioning his willingness to end the war after Moscow’s strikes on Kyiv earlier this week.

Posting on his social media account, Trump said there was “no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas”, adding: “It makes me think that maybe he [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?'”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also posted an image of the meeting on X with the caption: “No words are needed to describe the importance of this historic meeting. Two leaders working for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica.”

In a post on X, French President Emmanuel Macron said ending the war in Ukraine was an objective that “we share in common with President Trump”, adding that Ukraine was ready for “an unconditional ceasefire”.

Could this lead to an actual productive move towards a lasting ceasefire? Possibly, but no one should get their hopes up yet.