President Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania, were among the key world figures to attend Pope Francis’ funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Saturday, April 26. Trump joined dozens of heads of state to bid farewell to the leader of the Catholic Church, who died on April 21, at the age of 88, after a series of complicated health issues.
But ahead of taking his seat for the service, Trump had a brief meeting with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two met on the sidelines of the funeral, before proceedings began. It was their first in-person meeting since their highly-documented Oval Office showdown in February, which saw the two world leaders clash when discussing the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
According to White House communications director Steven Cheung, Trump and Zelensky ”met privately… and had a very productive discussion.” Serhii Nykyforov, Zelensky’s spokesperson, added that the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes. It is thought that the two will continue their discussions later on.
The office of President Zelensky later shared a picture of the meeting via social media. Trump and Zelensky can be seen sitting opposite one another on two chairs in a marbled room, with the U.S. President leaning in to listen as the Ukrainian leader speaks.
The Trump-Zelensky sit-down comes shortly after Trump delivered a rare public rebuke of Russian President Vladmir Putin, with whom he has typically enjoyed a strong relationship. Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, April 24, Trump called out Russia’s leader over a deadly attack on Kyiv, Ukraine. “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!,” he wrote.
Zelensky has typically received strong support from his fellow world leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. On Saturday, when he entered St. Peter’s Basilica to take his seat for Pope Francis’ funeral service, Zelensky was met with a round of applause from the public, with thousands gathered outside the proceedings to pay their respects to the Pontiff.
Although Trump had previously said that he would end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his second term in the White House, the conflict rages on. In a sit-down interview with TIME on April 22, Trump answered whether he felt peace was possible if Putin is still President of Russia.
“I think with me as President, there’s—possible, if [a] very probable [chance],” Trump said. “If somebody else is President, no chance.”
Trump went on to say: “I believe I’m the only one that can get this thing negotiated. And I think we’re a long way. We’ve had very good talks, and we’re getting very close to a deal. And I don’t believe anybody else could have made that deal.”
Read More: The Full Transcript of Donald Trump’s ‘100 Days’ Interview With TIME
The post President Trump Pays His Respects at Pope Francis’ Funeral After ‘Private and Productive’ Meeting With Zelensky appeared first on TIME.
