Agencies Rome

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in Rome ahead of Pope Francis' funeral, as confirmed by the White House on Saturday.  "President Trump and President Zelensky met privately today and had a very productive discussion," said White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, adding that more details about the meeting will follow.

"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 President Donald Trump," Zelensky posted on X after the meeting.

This was the first in-person meeting between the leaders since the February Oval Office showdown, during which Trump accused Zelensky of not being sufficiently thankful or respectful of the US's support. Meanwhile, the fourth meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff took place since the start of the year on Friday in Moscow. Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov has said that the conversation, which lasted three hours, was constructive and quite useful.

Earlier this week President Trump slammed Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian leader's statement on Crimea is "very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia". This time, the Trump-Zelensky clash was over Crimea, with the US President convinced that the region should be considered as Russian territory, while Zelensky refused to agree with him, reiterating that Ukraine will stand firm on its core principles, Xinhua news agency reported.