Trump and Zelenskyy meet briefly at the Vatican to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press ROME AP President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met briefly Saturday before the funeral for Pope Francis as the American leader measures up the pressure to end Russia s war against Ukraine Zelenskyy s office had announced teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday but Trump went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One for the -hour flight back to the United States which seemed to rule out a second in-person conversation The White House disclosed their discussion was very productive and that more details would be disclosed later The meeting lasted about minutes inside St Peter s Basilica at the Vatican just before they took their seats for the outdoor funeral institution In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office Ukraine s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy right and President Donald Trump talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican Saturday April Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP Zelenskyy explained good meeting on social media after the funeral 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 latest out he wrote Very symbolic meeting that has anticipated to become historic if we achieve joint results Thank you The meeting took place hours after Trump revealed on social media after he arrived in Italy late Friday that Russia and Ukraine should meet for very high level talks on ending the three-year war sparked by Russia s invasion Trump has pressed both sides to agree to a ceasefire His special envoy Steve Witkoff had met earlier Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Trump reported both sides were very close to a deal In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office Ukraine s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy right and President Donald Trump talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican Saturday April Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP Putin did not attend Francis funeral He faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court which has accused him of war crimes stemming from Moscow s invasion of Ukraine Meanwhile in a comment Friday night Zelenskyy announced very essential meetings may take place in coming days and that an unconditional ceasefire was needed Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move towards peace or our proposal whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable immediate and unconditional ceasefire and then a dignified peace and defense guarantees he commented Diplomacy must succeed And we are doing everything to make diplomacy truly meaningful and ultimately effective There was no immediate word on whether Trump and Zelenskyy spoke again after they paid their respects to the pope who had repeatedly pressed for an end to the conflict