Trump Slams Putin Post-Zelensky Meeting: "Maybe He Doesn't Want Peace"

US President Donald Trump questioned whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants a peace deal, shortly after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the heart of the Vatican minutes before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.

Saturday marked the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelensky since a disastrous White House meeting in February, when the president and other US officials publicly berated Zelensky for being insufficiently grateful for US support and briefly suspended arms shipments and intelligence sharing .

The White House has since mounted an increasingly urgent push to broker a peace agreement in Ukraine.

Photos provided by the Ukrainian presidential office depicted the two officials engaged in an intimate conversation sans their staff within the opulent setting of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Zelensky expressed gratitude to Trump for the "productive meeting" in a social media posting.

We had extensive one-on-one discussions. Looking forward to seeing outcomes on all the topics we addressed," Zelensky penned. "Ensuring the safety of our citizens. A complete and unambiguous truce. Robust and enduring cease fire. peace This will stop another war from starting. It’s a highly symbolic meeting with the potential to be historic, provided we attain shared outcomes."

A spokesperson traveling with Trump at the White House stated that the two leaders "held a private meeting today which was quite fruitful." Representatives from both Zelensky’s team and Trump’s side mentioned that the conversation went on for approximately 15 minutes, after which they decided to keep discussing further topics.

In a Truth Social post following his return from Rome after the meeting, Trump suggested potentially imposing fresh sanctions on Russia due to their attack on Kyiv last week, casting doubt on Putin’s willingness for peace.

There was no justification for Putin to launch missiles into civilian regions, cities, and towns during the past several days," Trump stated. "This leads me to believe he might not intend to end this conflict; instead, he seems to be merely keeping me engaged. We may have to address him using alternative methods such as 'banking' restrictions or 'secondary sanctions.' The death toll continues to rise far too high!!!

How the structure of the pope’s funeral enabled discussions between Trump and Zelensky

The meeting took place right outside the Baptistry Chapel, located within St. Peter’s Basilica close to its entry point, and had not been previously announced.

Before the U.S. President's short stopover in Rome, authorities had minimized expectations that he might hold meetings with Zelensky or any other global leaders, citing the limited duration of his visit and its primary aim of honoring the recently deceased Pope.

Trump had originally selected Saudi Arabia for his first stop abroad of his new term and will visit there next month. But when Francis died those plans changed, and instead Trump made his first foreign stop in Europe, a continent he’s railed against frequently.

The seating arrangement and the gathering of various leaders facilitated short exchanges, even with those Trump appeared to have sidestepped since entering the White House. He exchanged pleasantries quickly with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who he hadn't communicated with at all due to ongoing disagreements over trade and defense matters with the EU.

The seating arrangement — ordered alphabetically according to the countries' names in French — placed Trump next to the leaders of Estonia and Finland, where he had brief interactions with them.

In some instances, Trump engaged in small talk with other leaders who were concurrently involved in initiatives aimed at assisting in resolving the conflict in Ukraine. During the sign of peace segment of the funeral mass, he shook hands with French President Emmanuel Macron. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister later shared an image on social media showing Macron and Zelensky having met on Saturday.

US involvement in talks

The U.S. has continued to increase the pressure on Ukraine following threats made earlier this week that it might withdraw from negotiations within days if it seems unlikely that an agreement can be achieved.

Trump said Friday Russia and Ukraine are "quite near an agreement" that could conclude the conflict, which began in 2014 when Russia initiated hostilities and intensified following their comprehensive assault on the country in 2022.

President Biden's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held discussions with Putin lasting approximately three hours on Friday, as stated by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. He described these conversations as "productive and highly beneficial."

Before departing from Kyiv to head for Rome on Friday, Zelensky proposed several concessions aimed at moving peace negotiations forward.

"In the upcoming days, highly important gatherings might occur — these gatherings ought to bring us nearer to peace for Ukraine," he stated.

We are prepared for discussions, I stress once more, in any format and with anybody," he stated, however, "such talks will only commence following an authentic indication that Russia intends to conclude the conflict. This sign would be a comprehensive and unconditional cessation of hostilities.

Kiev and Moscow haven't held direct negotiations since the initial stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Direct discussions would probably necessitate additional talks and introduce delays into the diplomatic process that the Trump administration anticipates will produce outcomes within a few days.

Accepting that Ukraine would not join NATO in the foreseeable future, Zelensky said: “I think we have to be pragmatic. We have to understand what security guarantees Ukraine needs.”

Zelensky mentioned that these assurances could involve a European military presence along with what he referred to as a "safeguard" from the United States.

For our part, the backstop doesn’t always mean deploying troops on Ukrainian soil," Zelensky stated, suggesting alternatives like cyber defense measures "as well as primarily providing Patriot air defense systems.

On Thursday, Kyiv came under attack by the biggest surge of Russian missiles Strikes that began in July of last year have resulted in twelve fatalities.

The 'Ukraine Deal Framework' continues to encounter obstacles

On Friday, Zelensky discussed "productive" suggestions formulated during the meetings this week in London involving both Ukrainian and European authorities.

A set of these proposals was acquired by Reuters. Labeled "Ukraine Deal Framework," the document suggests a complete and unconditional cessation of hostilities in the air, on land, and at sea, aligning with what Ukraine had earlier consented to.

The monitoring of the ceasefire would be headed by the U.S. and backed by several other nations, as per the draft acquired by Reuters. The News Pulse has verified its details.

The proposal suggested that Ukraine should get "strong security assurances, including commitments from the U.S.... even though there isn’t agreement among allies about full NATO membership." These assurances would mirror those outlined in NATO’s Article 5, wherein member states pledge to come to the defense of a country that has been attacked.

One part of the draft that is likely to be opposed by Moscow says that “the guarantor states will be an ad hoc group of European countries and willing non-European countries.” There would be “no restrictions on the presence, weapons and operations of friendly foreign forces on the territory of Ukraine,” nor on the size of the Ukrainian military.

The document states that discussions about borders would commence once the truce is implemented, with the initial basis being the present battle lines. However, it also specifies that Ukraine will reclaim authority over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility, which has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.

Regarding the suggested minerals pact between the U.S. and Ukraine, aimed at providing the U.S. with access to billions of dollars worth of rare metals, the document states that Ukraine will receive full financial compensation. This compensation may include funds from Russian assets that will stay frozen until Moscow covers the damages inflicted upon Ukraine.

Moscow is also expected to object to that.

The draft acquired by Reuters makes no specific reference to Crimea. The proposal put forth by Witkoff suggested that the U.S. acknowledge Crimea as part of Russia without implying that Ukraine should concur with this stance. Accepting Russian sovereignty over Crimea—which was unlawfully seized by Moscow in 2014—would constitute a significant point of contention for both Ukraine and its European partners, and such acceptance would contravene internationally accepted norms and laws.

Zelensky dismissed the notion, stating there was "no discussion possible" because recognizing Crimea's annexation would contravene Ukraine's constitution. During a press briefing on Friday, he commented, "I concur with President Trump that Ukraine lacks sufficient weaponry to reclaim the Crimean Peninsula through military might. However, the international community possesses tools like sanctions and other forms of economic leverage."

The News Pulse reported earlier this week that Trump was getting frustrated With the negotiations at a standstill, he has secretly informed his advisors that brokering an agreement has proven to be much harder than he initially thought.

The discussions held on Saturday followed Vladimir Putin's announcement that Russia has regained control of Kursk , the frontier area where Ukraine initiated an unexpected attack last year.

"The venture of the Kiev administration has utterly failed," Putin stated, commending the Russian forces that he claimed had triumphed over the Ukrainian army. the region .

However, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff stated in aTelegram posting that Putin's assertion was "untrue."

"The Ukrainian Defense Forces' defensive operations in specified regions within the Kursk area remain ongoing. Despite the challenging circumstances, our troops persist in maintaining their ground and fulfilling their designated missions," according to the Telegram update.

The News Pulse cannot confirm battlefield reports on its own.

Kevin Liptak, Samantha Waldenberg, Max Rego, and Jedd Rosche from The News Pulse provided additional reporting.

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