Volodymyr Zelensky has said his meeting with Donald Trump at the Vatican was the “most substantive” conversation the two have had so far.
The pair reportedly covered a wide range of topics, from Russian sanctions to a proposed 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, during their 15-minute meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral last week.
“With all due respect to our teams, the one-on-one format, in my opinion, worked,” Zelensky said, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
“We had the right atmosphere for the conversation.”
The discussion at St Peter’s Basilica marked the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since their heated exchange at the White House in February.
Moscow has said it is awaiting Kyiv’s “final” response to a three-day ceasefire proposal laid out by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the TASS news agency reported on Saturday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s proposed truce, which would span from 7 to 9 May, amounts to “a test of Kyiv’s readiness for long-term peace”.
Here’s everything you need to know about what Trump and Zelensky’s meeting means for Ukraine as well as Russia’s proposed three-day truce.
How did Zelensky’s meeting with Trump shift peace negotiations?
During the two leaders’ meeting at St Peter’s Basilica, Zelensky said they agreed a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow was the best first step towards peace in Ukraine.
Zelensky added that he brought up the topic of Russian sanctions with the US President, claiming Trump’s view on the matter is “very strong”.
The Ukrainian President said he believes the meeting may have shifted Trump’s perspective.
“I am confident that after our meeting in the Vatican, President Trump began to look at things a bit differently,” he said, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
Zelensky (right) briefly met with French President Emmanuel Macron (left), Keir Starmer (second left) and Trump during Pope Francis’s funeral (Photo: Office of Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via Getty Images)
“We’ll see. It’s his vision, his choice in any case,” Zelensky said.
“I think we behaved constructively and with integrity, and that matters.”
Zelensky also dismissed Russia’s proposals for a three-day truce on Saturday, claiming the move was a mere “theatrical performance”.
He said: “They kill until the 7th, pause for a couple of comfortable days, then start attacking again on the 11th.”
According to Interfax, Zelensky rejected the Kremlin’s so-called “humanitarian truce” because it is “impossible to build any plan for the next steps to end the war in two or three days”.
He added that Kyiv is willing to begin the 30-day truce – initially proposed by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff – at any time, be it “the 1st, 3rd, 5th, or if [Putin] needs the 7th”.
Russia stymied the 30-day ceasefire plan by calling for far-reaching conditions, including a ban Western weapons supplies to Kyiv as well as assurance Ukraine will not use the pause to regroup and rearm.
How did the meeting in the Vatican shape the Ukraine-US minerals deal?
Zelensky has previously said the signing of a long-awaited US-Ukraine minerals deal was the first tangible result of the meeting in the Vatican, calling it a “historic” outcome.
The deal would give the US access to some of the war-torn country’s natural resources – including its minerals as well as oil, natural gas and other hydrocarbons.
While the US will get joint access to the resources, they will remain under Ukrainian ownership.
Ukraine destroys Russian fighter jet from sea drone for ‘first time’
Ukraine destroyed a Russian fighter jet using a missile fired from a seaborne drone, the Ukrainian GUR military intelligence agency has reported.
The agency claims the attack marked the world’s first downing of a combat plane by a maritime drone
The jet was reportedly shot down by a military intelligence unit on Friday over waters near Novorossiisk, a major Russian port city on the Black Sea.
The mayor of Novorossiisk declared a state of emergency on Saturday after local authorities said a Ukrainian drone attack had damaged a grain terminal and several residential buildings, injuring five people.
Ukraine’s seaborne drones have also wrought havoc on Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
A fund to manage investments and hold profits will be established as part of the deal.
Zelensky said on Saturday that the money would, at least initially, be reinvested and not leave Ukraine.
“Only if the parties then, in the future, agree that in 20 years the fund is fine, things are being built, there is production,” he said.
Zelensky also hopes that more investment will be directed into Ukraine’s air defences, which remains one of Kyiv’s main requests to its allies throughout the war.
“And so we are ready for air defence systems to be a contribution (to the fund). I told him about the number (of systems that we need) – he told me that they will work on it, (that) these things are not free.”