White House communications director Steven Cheung said the leaders “met privately today and had a very productive discussion" and that more details would follow. Zelenskyy's spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said they met for about 15 minutes at St. Peter's Basilica and agreed to continue negotiations later Saturday. Teams were working to organize the follow-up conversation.
Trump arrived at the Vatican with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and was seated in the front row, not far from French President Emmanuel Macron, for the outdoor service.
Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the funeral "out of respect" for the pontiff, who died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88.
Francis sharply disagreed with Trump's approach on issues including immigration, the treatment of migrants and climate change. The Argentine pontiff and the American president sparred early in their relationship over immigration. In 2016, Francis, alluding to then-candidate Trump and his campaign slogan of "Build the wall," called anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants " not Christian." Trump said the comment was "disgraceful."
But after Francis' death, the Republican president praised him as a "good man" who "worked hard" and "loved the world." Trump also directed that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff in Francis' honor.
Trump had said on a couple of occasions before leaving Washington that he would have “a lot” of meetings with counterparts on the sidelines of the funeral. But he seemed to back away from that as he flew to Rome.
“Frankly, it's a little disrespectful to have meetings when you're at the funeral of a pope,” the president told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One. Nonetheless, Trump said: “I'll be talking to people. I'll be seeing a lot of people.”
One person Trump didn't expect to interact with is former President Joe Biden, a practicing Roman Catholic who attended with his wife, Jill. Biden, wearing his signature aviator sunglasses was seated several rows behind Trump, who had said he didn't know his Democratic predecessor would be at the funeral. Asked if they'd meet, Trump said: "It's not high on my list. It's really not."
Trump, meanwhile, drew the public's attention for wearing a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire.
The pope's funeral is not one of those occasions that bring together the current and former U.S. presidents. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were not attending, their offices said. A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton did not respond to an inquiry about his plans.
Trump didn't elaborate when asked if he’d just be meeting with leaders in passing or holding more in-depth talks. He noted that his stay in Rome would be short.
“It’s a little tough because we don’t have much time," he said. Trump arrived late Friday and was scheduled to head back to the United States immediately after the funeral.
“I think that we’re going to try and see a couple of people that are important in what we’re doing," said Trump, who is working to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and negotiate trade agreements with multiple countries.
After Trump was shown to his seat for the funeral, he was immediately followed out of St. Peter's Basilica by Zelenskyy, who was met with a burst of applause from the audience.
Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after arriving in Rome that Ukraine and Russia should meet for "very high level talks" on ending the bloody three-year war sparked by Russia's invasion. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, had met earlier Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump said both sides were "very close to a deal." Putin did not attend the funeral.
Trump's meeting Saturday with Zelenskyy also came shortly after Trump issued his most definitive statement yet about the need for Ukraine to give up territory to Russia to bring the war to a close. He said in a Time magazine interview published Friday that "Crimea will stay with Russia."
Russia seized the strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. Zelenskyy wants to regain Crimea and other Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, but that demand has become a sticking point for Trump.
Referring to Crimea during the interview, which was conducted at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said, “everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time.”
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Associated Press journalist Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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