1 week Ago
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says his meeting at the Vatican with US President Donald Trump could prove historic if the peaceful end to Ukraine's war with Russia that they discussed is achieved. Login or signup to continue reading "Good meeting. One-on-one, we managed to discuss a lot.
We hope for a result from all the things that were spoken about," Zelenskiy wrote in a post on social media platform X on Saturday. He said those topics included "the protection of the lives of our people. A complete and unconditional ceasefire.
A reliable and lasting peace that will prevent a recurrence of war." Zelenskiy added: "It was a very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic if we achieve joint results. Thank you, President Donald Trump!" The pair met for about 15 minutes at the Vatican on Saturday on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral.
Photos released by Zelenskiy's office showed the two men sitting opposite each other in the middle of a marbled hall, with none of their aides in the vicinity. The meeting, their first since an angry encounter in the Oval Office in Washington in February, comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to fighting between Ukraine and Russia. "President Trump and President Zelenskiy met privately today and had a very productive discussion.
More details about the meeting will follow," White House communications director Steven Cheung said. Trump, who has been pressing both sides to agree a ceasefire, said on Friday that there had been productive talks between his envoy and the Russian leadership, and called for a high-level meeting between Kyiv and Moscow to close a deal. Trump had previously warned his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
After a round of shuttle diplomacy this week, differences have emerged between the position of the Trump White House on peace talks and the stance of Ukraine and its European allies, according to documents from the talks obtained by Reuters. Washington is proposing a legal recognition that Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, is Russian territory, something that Kyiv and its allies in Europe say is a red line they will not cross. Another photo released by Zelenskiy's office showed Trump and Zelenskiy standing in a huddle, along with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Asked about a photograph shared by the Ukrainian presidential press office that depicted the four leaders standing together in Rome, the French presidency said: "I confirm the meeting, which was positive". There are also differences on how quickly sanctions on Russia would be lifted if a peace deal was signed, what kind of security guarantees Ukraine would have, and how Ukraine would be financially compensated. At the Oval Office meeting in February, as Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful for US support, a reporter who was present from a conservative US news network accused Zelenskiy of disrespecting the occasion by not wearing a suit.
Zelenskiy, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, has eschewed suits in favour of military-style attire, saying it is his way of showing solidarity with his countryman fighting to defend Ukraine. In Rome on Saturday, Zelenskiy again decided against a suit, and instead wore a dark shirt, buttoned up to the neck with no tie, and wore a dark military-style jacket over the top of that. Australian Associated Press Daily Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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