President Donald Trump seems to have undergone a drastic change of heart on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after Pope Francis’s funeral service.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump said he was “very disappointed” about Russia’s deadly airstrike on Kyiv last week as he took on a more sympathetic tone toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I think the meeting went well,” Trump said of his conversation with Zelensky. “We’ll see what happens over the next few days. We’ll probably learn a lot. I was very disappointed that missiles were flying—by Russia—very disappointed.”
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… pic.twitter.com/q4ZhVXCjw0
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 26, 2025
The hours-long attack on Kyiv killed at least a dozen people on Thursday, marking Russia’s biggest assault on the Ukrainian capital since last year.
Days later, Trump and Zelensky sat down on the sidelines of the Pope’s funeral in their first face-to-face meeting since their disastrous shouting match at the Oval Office in February.
Trump, who has repeatedly castigated Zelensky for rejecting his proposed peace deal with Russia, said his relationship with the Ukrainian president “was never bad.”
“We had a little dispute because I disagreed with something he said, and the cameras were rolling, and that was okay with me,” Trump said. “He’s in a tough situation, very tough situation, fighting a much bigger force.”
Zelensky appears to have moved past his February clash with Trump as well, writing in an X post that they had a “good meeting” that he said “has potential to become historic.”
Trump said Zelensky asked him for more weapons—”but he’s been saying that for three years”—and appeared to be more receptive to negotiating a peace deal.
“I see him as calmer,” the president said. “I think he understands the picture and I think he wants to make a deal.”
Zelensky turned down an earlier peace deal proposed by Trump, which would have involved the U.S. recognizing Crimea as a Russian territory. Putin illegally annexed the Ukrainian region in 2014.
“Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There is nothing to talk about. It is against our constitution,” Zelensky told reporters last week, triggering a Truth Social meltdown from Trump.
Trump’s frustration with Zelensky, however, quickly turned into disappointment with Putin as Russian missiles began pounding Kyiv.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war,” Trump said of the Russian president. “He’s just tapping me along.”
Asked by a reporter on Sunday whether he trusted Putin, Trump replied: “I’ll let you know in about two weeks.”
The post Trump Makes Dramatic Reversal on Putin After Pope’s Funeral appeared first on The Daily Beast.
