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Donald Trump met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House official.
Pictures show they met inside St Peter’s Basilica with Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron present and also sat down together with no one else there.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and agreed to hold further discussions after the service.
The world leaders share a moment before the service
Trump and Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
There was applause from some of the other world leaders who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
He told Sky News their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row at the White House in February could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
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