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Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy used their time at the Vatican while attending the funeral of Pope Francis to discuss a possible ceasefire with Russia, with the Ukrainian president releasing a photograph of a seemingly intense conversation in St Peter’s Basilica.
The White House described the meeting as “very productive”, while Zelenskyy said on X that the talk with the US president was very symbolic and had the “potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”.
It was the first time that Zelenskyy and Trump had met face to face after a frosty February encounter in the White House where Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance, berated the Ukrainian leader and accused him of ingratitude for US aid.
In an effort to to end fighting between Ukraine and Russia, Washington is engaging in intense mediation betweenthe two countries, at war since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
On Friday, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow for three hours to discuss Washington’s peace proposal. Trump said that “most of the major points are agreed to”, in a post on his Truth Social platform, without further elaboration. He called for a meeting between Kyiv and Moscow’s leadership to sign a ceasefire deal, which he said was “very close”.
Despite Trump’s eagerness for a deal, significant differences remain between the US vision for peace and what Ukraine and its European allies have deemed acceptable conditions for a ceasefire.
Two sets of peace plans published by Reuters on Friday showed that the US is proposing Moscow retain the territory it has captured, including the strategic Crimean peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014.
This is seemingly a non-starter for Ukraine and European countries, with Zelenskyy insisting the territory is the “property of the Ukrainian people”.
“Our position is unchanged,” the Ukrainian president told reporters in Kyiv. “The constitution of Ukraine says that all the temporarily occupied territories … belong to Ukraine.”
It is also unclear if Moscow will agree to the US peace deal, which is seen as offering considerable concessions to Russia.
On Saturday, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said all Ukrainian troops had been forced from Russia’s Kursk region, a key aim for Moscow. Ukrainian officials disputed the claim.
The technical details of a ceasefire deal still need to be hammered out, including how western sanctions imposed on Russia would be lifted and what sort of security guarantees would be offered to Ukraine.
Trump acknowledged on Friday that the talks were “very fragile”, and he has warned that the US would halt its mediation efforts if the two sides did not come to an agreement soon.
Fighting continues in tandem with mediation efforts, with the Kremlin blaming Ukraine for a car bomb that killed a senior Russian general near Moscow on Friday. Kyiv did not comment on the incident, the latest in a string of Russian military officials to be killed over the past three years.
The day before, Russia carried out its deadliest attack in months on Ukraine, launching 70 missiles and 145 drones, mostly towards Kyiv.
The attack caused Trump to lash out at Putin on social media. “I am 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!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday.
