President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican during Pope Francis’s funeral. Following the sit-down, Trump said he did not believe President Vladimir Putin was committed to peace and posted that he would be adding new sanctions on Russia. Prior to the talks with Zelensky, Trump said a peace deal was close.
According to the Telegraph, Saturday’s meeting between Trump and Zelensky came at the American leader’s request. Zelensky described the short sit-down as the “most positive conversation” he has had with Trump. French President Emmanuel Macron also briefly joined the American and Ukrainian leaders.
It was the first face-to-face conversation between Trump and Zelensky since their contentious Oval Office meeting in late February, which led to the White House to briefly cut military aid shipments and intelligence-sharing with Kiev.
A source familiar with the talks told the Telegraph that Trump “feels almost a bit burned by Putin attacking civilians,” which left “him looking a bit stupid.”
After the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social, “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.” He added, “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The statement was in contrast to what the White House said in the days leading up to the meeting with Zelensky. On Friday, Trump told reporters that “We’re going make our country rich, but we’re gonna try and get out of war so that we can save 5,000 people a week.” The president added, “And that’s what my aim is. I want to save 5,000 young men. They happen to be mostly Ukrainian, Russian. 5,000 young Ukrainian and Russian men and that’s that’s a big honor if I could do it.”
Trump’s remarks occurred when his envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow. The Kremlin said those negotiations resulted in progress.
Additionally, a car bomb killed a Russian general outside of Moscow on Friday. Ukraine has conducted similar attacks throughout the war.
