Zelenskyy and Trump's historic meeting at the Vatican: Details revealed

According to the agencies, Ukrainian sources say that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his 15 minutes to deliver a simple message: Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire, Russia is not, and US President Donald Trump should not give up on the peace that only he can ensure.

According to Axios, Zelenskyy reiterated at the meeting that he would not recognize Crimea as Russian, and Trump made it clear that he was not asking him to do so, one source said. The plan calls for recognition by the United States, not Ukraine.

According to the source, during the conversation, Trump insisted that Zelenskyy sign the US-Ukraine minerals deal as soon as possible.

Even before the meeting, Zelenskyy's advisers were divided on whether he should risk a one-on-one meeting at all after the Oval Office disaster. But afterward, Zelenskyy felt that he had succeeded for the first time in changing Trump's mind about Putin, sources said.

The source said that Zelenskyy told Trump that he was not afraid to make concessions to end the war, but that he needed sufficiently reliable security guarantees.

A social media post written by the American president later showed that he understood the message. His performative rebuke of Kremlin head Vladimir Putin for "pushing (him - ed.)" was his strongest to date.

For his part, the US official said that the White House was not impressed with Putin's latest proposal for a three-day ceasefire in connection with Russia's Victory Day on May 9.

The massive Russian missile strike on Kyiv on April 24, during which a North Korean-made missile killed at least 12 people, clearly angered Trump.

"At the start of the process, Trump was very frustrated with Zelenskyy. Now that has switched to Putin," the American source said.

Preparations for the meeting

According to one of the media sources, nothing was decided in advance (about the meeting - ed.), and initially, the idea was that they would try to meet after the funeral.

But then the leaders bumped into each other upon arrival. They found a place to meet in private at St. Peter's Cathedral.

Axios sources said that one of the possible reasons why this meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy was more positive was the absence of Vice President J.D. Vance and White House special counsel Steve Witkoff.

Zelenskyy and Trump meet at the Vatican

On April 26, the Vatican hosted the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on April 21. The ceremony was attended by thousands of believers and about 50 world leaders.

The event also included a personal meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump. It was the first since the conflict at the White House on February 28.

Later, Zelenskyy provided details of his meeting with US President Donald Trump, which he called very symbolic.