Boma Achenimie 
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Saturday met with his United States (US) counterpart, Donald Trump, in Rome at the funeral of Pope Francis.
The encounter between the two world leaders comes at a pivotal moment where ongoing negotiations are in top gear to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
President Zelensky’s spokesperson confirmed the meeting but provided no further details.
The brief encounter follows recent moves by the Trump administration to accelerate peace efforts in the region.
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On Friday, President Trump reported “productive talks” between his envoy and Russian leadership, urging both Kyiv and Moscow to move toward a high-level meeting to finalise a ceasefire agreement.
Trump, who has made resolving the war a key foreign policy priority, warned that U.S. efforts to broker peace would be withdrawn if the two sides fail to reach a deal soon.
Saturday Telegraph gathered that the meeting marks the first in-person interaction between Zelensky and Trump since a contentious Oval Office encounter in February, which reportedly devolved into a heated exchange.
Following that meeting, the United States temporarily suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine, a critical component of Kyiv’s defence strategy against Russian attacks. The intelligence cooperation was later restored after diplomatic efforts.
