Trump's 14 hours in Rome: Fleeting encounters amid global discord

ROME -- President Donald Trump flew briefly this weekend into a European continent he has thrown into chaos in recent months, paying respects to Pope Francis at his funeral but also meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine at a critical moment that may decide the country's boundaries and its fate.

Trump was on the ground in Rome for about 14 hours and left immediately after the services for the pope in St. Peter's Square, stopping only for handshakes or greetings with a few of the presidents, prime ministers, royals and religious leaders who came to the ceremony.

It was a startlingly fast turnaround for the first overseas trip of a new president and left no time for discussion of his tariffs on the European Union, his turn toward normalizing relations with Russia or his insistence that Europeans must take far larger responsibility for their own defense.

Trump told aides he wanted to make it back to his golf resort in New Jersey before the end of the day.

The pageantry of the funeral, including the seating of dignitaries and a moment in the service when world leaders joined in handshakes of peace, lent itself to diplomatic tea-leaf reading. But Trump's meeting of 15 minutes or so with Zelenskyy was surrounded with a symbolism and mystery of its own.

Photographs of the session released by Ukraine showed that the meeting took place in St. Peter's Basilica, the two men perched on cushioned metal chairs, deep in conversation as they waited for the services to begin. It was a remarkable scene -- an impromptu meeting between two men who have made no secret of their deep dislike and distrust for each other.

It was the first time they had seen each other since their contentious encounter in the Oval Office in late February, which ended in a televised argument over Trump's turn away from Kyiv and toward a new relationship with Russia. Zelenskyy was told to leave the White House, his lunch left uneaten and an economic partnership deal left unsigned.

A White House spokesperson, Stephen Cheung, called Saturday's encounter at the funeral a "very productive discussion" but gave no details. In a later post on social platform X, Zelenskyy described the brief talk as a "good meeting" during which the pair discussed "a lot one on one," including security guarantees to make sure Russia does not use a ceasefire as an opportunity to rearm and attack again.

Trump's speedy departure came despite a suggestion from a Ukrainian spokesperson that more talks would take place in Rome on Saturday. After Trump boarded Air Force One to leave, the spokesperson then said a second meeting would not occur because of the "very tight schedules of the presidents."

The short meeting came at a critical moment in the push to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, with Trump trying to push Zelenskyy and President Vladimir Putin into direct talks.

"They are very close to a deal," Trump wrote on Truth Social late Friday after landing in Rome. "The two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to 'finish it off.'"

But as Zelenskyy arrived in Rome, Russia claimed that it had retaken a last village in Kursk, the Russian territory that Ukraine invaded last summer, partly to gain leverage in negotiations. Ukraine denied that its forces had fully withdrawn.

This past week, the United States presented Ukraine with a plan for a ceasefire that would give Russia de facto control over all of the land it has illegally seized since the invasion began three years ago. The proposal also includes a formal recognition by the United States that the Crimean Peninsula, seized by Moscow in 2014, is now Russian territory, a major reversal of US policy.

Zelenskyy said this past week that Ukraine would never make that concession. But he traveled to Rome with a counterproposal, Ukrainian officials said, that would end the conflict on far less generous terms for Russia and that would include billions of dollars in reparations for Ukraine, paid by Russia. The counteroffer makes no mention, though, of whether Ukraine would fully regain Crimea or other territory seized by Russia, and postpones discussion of territorial issues until after a ceasefire.

Neither proposal meets several of Putin's demands, including that the size of Ukraine's military be sharply limited.

Trump, flying back home, posted a lengthy message blaming Ukraine's plight in part on his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the latter of whom had been sitting four rows behind him at the funeral. "This is Sleepy Joe Biden's War, not mine," he wrote.

He also criticized Russia's leader. "There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and town over the last few days," he wrote. "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along." Trump also threatened new sanctions against Russia in the post.

Zelenskyy's description of the meeting made clear that he had learned a lesson from his Oval Office encounter: Always show gratitude, even if sharp disagreements remain.

"Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results," he wrote. He ended with, "Thank you @POTUS."

Among the points covered in the discussion, he wrote, were a "full and unconditional ceasefire" and a "reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out." The last was noteworthy: Trump's proposal has only vague security guarantees for Ukraine. The Ukrainian proposal calls for a European peacekeeping force, with the United States providing backup.

Zelenskyy also met with other leaders, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain. In a post on X, Macron, who included a photo of himself walking with the Ukrainian leader, said Zelenskyy was "ready for an unconditional ceasefire." The offices of Meloni and Starmer emphasized Zelenskyy's desire to "secure a just and lasting peace."

After his inauguration, Trump had made clear that he wanted his first trip overseas in this term to be to the Middle East, starting with Saudi Arabia, the site of his initial visit during his first term in office.

Instead, his first trip ended up in Italy at the funeral, where he was surrounded by European leaders he has been denouncing as freeloaders unwilling to pay their share of the continent's defense, and leaders of the EU, which he said was "formed in order to screw the United States."

The service itself offered a reminder of how Francis had strongly criticized the Trump administration's policy on mass deportations of migrants.

During the homily, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re referred to the pontiff's trip to the border between Mexico and the United States, one of his many "gestures and exhortations in favor of refugees and displaced persons."

There was a certain irony in the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump at the funeral. The pope initially struggled to strike a balance between showing support for what he referred to as "martyred Ukraine" and his effort to avoid taking outright sides in the war. In 2023, he alluded to a secret "mission" to bring peace to Ukraine that failed to bear fruit. The pope, who called for "the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation" in his final Christmas address, would have surely welcomed any moves toward peace.

The foreign dignitaries who attended the funeral were seated in alphabetical order based on their country's name in French. That put Trump, wearing a blue suit in a crowd dressed mostly in black, and the first lady, Melania Trump, in between the leaders of Finland and Estonia and just down from Macron.

In the absence of more substantive meetings, Trump's every handshake and conversation was scrutinized for political significance at a moment of trans-Atlantic discord. He briefly greeted Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, who was sitting a few chairs down from him. In the past three months, von der Leyen was conspicuously absent from the leaders visiting the White House.

He chatted briefly with Macron, Zelenskyy and Starmer before the services began.

The office of Meloni, who has a friendly relationship with Trump, released photos showing him with his hand on her shoulder and another showing her walking beside the Trumps, apparently in conversation, inside St. Peter's Basilica. Neither Meloni's office nor the White House released any statements suggesting that substantial talks took place.