Zelensky and Trump meet inside St Peter’s Basilica before Pope’s funeral

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump have met inside St Peter’s Basilica ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral.

The White House described the 15-minute meeting as “very productive” and a Ukrainian spokesman said the pair will meet for a second time later on Saturday.

Trump and Zelensky are attending the service in Vatican City alongside other heads of state and royals including Prince William, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Their meeting comes one day after Trump said Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal”, following talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday.

The meeting was the fourth such visit Witkoff had made to Russia since the start of the year, with the three-hour talks later described as “very useful” by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.

Ushakov also added that it had brought the “Russian and US positions closer together, not just on Ukraine but also on a range of other international issues” of which the “possibility of resuming direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives was in particular discussed”.

Steven Cheung, White House communications director, said more details about the Vatican City private meeting between Trump and Zelensky would follow.

Images were later released by a Ukrainian official – Zelensky’s head of office Andriy Yermak – of the two leaders sat on chairs inside the basilica.

A separate photo also showed Trump and Zelensky stood in conversation with Sir Keir and Macron inside the basilica.

Saturday’s meetings are the first time the two leaders have met face-to-face since February after an unprecedented confrontation occurred in the Oval Office.

During the heated exchange Trump accused the Ukrainian president of “gambling with World War Three” by not going along with ceasefire plans led by Washington.

Kyiv has been on the receiving end of growing pressure from Trump to accept territorial concessions as part of an agreement with Moscow to end the war.

These concessions would reportedly include giving up large portions of land, including the Crimean peninsula which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the idea in the past. He suggested to the BBC on Friday that “a full and unconditional ceasefire opens up the possibility to discuss everything”.

During the funeral the pair were not sat near one another due to the seating arrangements being organised in French alphabetical order.