New bid for Ukraine peace

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one-on-one in a marble-lined Vatican basilica yesterday to try to revive faltering efforts to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.

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Zelensky said the meeting could prove historic if it delivered the kind of peace he is hoping for, and a White House spokesperson called it “very productive”.

The two leaders, leaning in close to each other with no aides around them while seated in St Peter's Basilica, spoke for about 15 minutes, according to Zelensky’s office, which also released photographs of the meeting.

The meeting at the Vatican, their first since an angry encounter in the Oval Office in Washington in February, comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to fighting between Ukraine and Russia.

Arriving in Rome late on Friday, Trump pushed for the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet after what he said was progress in talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday discussed the “possibility” of direct talks with Ukraine in a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff. But Zelensky again rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up Crimea.

Witkoff’s meeting with Putin came just after top Russian General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow. “There are reasons to believe that Ukraine’s special services were involved in the murder,” Russia’s foreign ministry said. Ukraine did not immediately comment.