US president admits to concern Russian counterpart does not want to ‘stop the war’ and ponders new approach to Moscow
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have sat down for a face-to-face talk in the opulent halls of a Vatican basilica to discuss a possible ceasefire, after which the US president accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of not wanting to “stop the war”.
The White House described Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian leader before Pope Francis’s funeral as “very productive”, while Zelenskyy said on X that the talk with the US president was 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.
No, the death itself and the plans for the funeral may have been sudden, but the Pope had been unwell for a while and I’m sure every government had a contingency plan to drop everything and go to the funeral.
And Putin is ex-KGB (as if you could ever really be a “former” spy). If Putin really is advising Trump, you can be sure that he had a script all teed up for Trump, and Trump got his talking points before the trip.
But the Vatican, at this particular event, is perhaps the only place in the world where Zelenskyy and Trump could have had this talk, without anyone else present.
Idk why you’re being downvoted. That’s a pretty reasonable conclusion.