Following his meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral, the US President cast doubt on Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war. In a post on his ‘Truth Social’ handle on X, Trump said he feared the Russian President was “just tapping me along” after Moscow’s strikes on Kyiv over the last few days. He added that Putin makes him think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war.
“I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is. With all of that being said, there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities, and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!” Trump wrote.
On Saturday, before the beginning of Pope Francis’s funeral in St Peter’s Basilica, Trump and Zelensky were spotted engaged in deep discussion. While the White House described the meeting as ‘very productive’, Zelenskyy called it symbolic that has the ‘potential to become historic’. He wrote on X, “Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
It was the first face-to-face encounter between the two world leaders since the high-profile meeting in the White House. Zelenskyy was heavily criticised by Trump and Vice President JD Vance during the meeting over a lack of gratitude for the US support.
Previously, after landing in Rome, Trump said, “A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to “finish it off.” Most of the major points are agreed upon. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
The images released of the meeting show Donald Trump in a blue suit and Zelenskyy in a black top and trousers. They were seen sitting opposite, facing each other in intense conversation.
