The White House said President Trump met in private with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome on Saturday, and the White House said at the funeral grounds of Pope Francis. This was the first time the two leaders met in person since television arguments were conducted in the Oval Office in late February, resulting in serious violations between the two countries.
The White House did not say when the two would meet, but it seemed to be before the funeral began, before the president left the funeral after 9 a.m. in Rome. White House spokesman Stephen Cheung called it a “very productive discussion” but did not provide any details.
The meeting in Rome was held at a critical moment, just like the United States' proposed plan for a ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia war and the post-war plan, which would effectively control Russia for all land illegally occupied since its invasion three years ago. The plan includes a major reversal of U.S. policy: formally U.S. recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, even though Ukraine and the rest of Europe insist that it remains a part of Ukraine.
Mr. Trump made it clear that he hoped to travel abroad to the Middle East for the first time in the semester, starting with Saudi Arabia, the location he first visited during his first term in office.
But then Pope Francis died. So on Saturday morning he went to the Vatican city to pay tribute to the pope's funeral.
As the ceremony began, Mr. Trump was surrounded by European leaders, who had been condemning freelancers and EU leaders who were reluctant to pay the African continent’s defense share, which he said was “set up to screw up the United States.”
Trump told Air Force One reporter on Friday's trip to Italy that he was attending the funeral “out of respect” Francis, noting: “I won the Catholic vote.”
The president's schedule does not allow meeting time, or even many casual “pulls”, and the term diplomat is used for short-lived encounters in the planned range. Mr. Trump was able to chat when he arrived.
The Vatican has released a seating program that allows guests to sit alphabetically in their groups based on the French name of their country. This puts Mr. Trump into the front row between Finland and Estonian leaders, while Emmanuel Macron, who has just returned from French president, lags behind.
The schedule required Mr. Trump to leave Rome less than three hours after the ceremony and fly to Newark to spend the night at his nearby golf club.
Every handshake and conversation Mr. Trump had at the funeral was watched meaning. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU's executive body, sat on several chairs of Mr Trump, and White House journalists traveled with the president but were quite far away, but the two reportedly appeared to be chatting, funeral agreement. Ms von der Leyen has clearly visited the White House over the past three months.
