Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of Pope Leo’s inauguration on Sunday, to discuss and prepare for a planned call with President Donald Trump on Monday regarding ending the war with Russia.
Russia, which launched war’s largest drone attack, is also reportedly planning to use an intercontinental ballistic missile against Kyiv. The development comes as President Vladimir Putin is also scheduled to speak with Trump on Monday.
Ukrainian intelligence suggests that Russia’s plan to use a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile is “to intimidate” Kyiv and the West ahead of the crucial talks with the US president. Detailing about the plan, intelligence reports suggest that the Kremlin would use an RS-24 Yars missile which has a claimed range of 10,000km with a training warhead.
Good meeting with @VP J. D. Vance and Secretary of State @SecRubio in Rome.
During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low level delegation of non-decision-makers. I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and… pic.twitter.com/ko2cKKYvCZ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 18, 2025
Underlining the grave challenges being faced to end the hostilities, the Ukrainian president said the meeting was “good” while releasing pictures of Kyiv and Washington’s officials at a round table and smiling. Ukraine’s local media reported that the meeting between Zelenskyy, Vance, Rubio and other officials went on for 40 minutes.
The meeting between Zelenskyy and Vance is the first since the two leaders clashed with heated arguments, when the Ukrainian president visited the White House in February this year.
Zelenskyy said, “I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible,” as he also met the new pope.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz informed the press that leaders from Britain, France, Germany and Poland would speak with Trump ahead of his scheduled call with Putin on Monday. The four European leaders visited Kyiv last week and called for new sanctions on Russia.
When asked about imposing tougher sanctions on Russia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was up to Trump. “I think we will see what happens when both sides get to the table,” he told NBC News.