Funeral of Pope Francis brings Trump and Zelenskyy together

After the meeting with the US President on Saturday, the Ukrainian President posted 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. Thank you @POTUS”.

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Vatican City on the sidelines of the Pope’s funeral to discuss a potential ceasefire deal. The two presidents met at St. Peter’s Basilica for 15 minutes and agreed to continue negotiations later on Saturday, reported AP.

Shortly after arriving in Rome last Friday, Trump said on social media that Ukraine and Russia should meet for “very high-level talks” on ending the three-year war sparked by Russia’s invasion. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Friday, and Trump said both sides were “very close to a deal.”

Meanwhile, Moscow claimed on Saturday that all Ukrainian troops had been forced out from parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year following a surprise Ukrainian incursion. Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff for Russia’s Armed Forces, gave Russian President Vladimir Putin the news in a meeting, confirmed Russian state news outlet Interfax. Ukrainian officials however did not confirm the claim.

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A picture for the history books: Zelensky, Trump, Macron, and Starmer discuss a peace plan at the Vatican. pic.twitter.com/dOm8bsD4eC

— 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐒𝐀 | 🇪🇺🇫🇷🇵🇱🇺🇦 (@tweet4Anna_NAFO) April 26, 2025

The Ukrainian army had stunned Russia in August 2024 by attacking across the border and taking control of an estimated 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of land. The country’s leaders believed the capture of Russian territory might help in any future peace negotiations. The gains were slowly eroded since then.

In yet another dramatic claim on Saturday, Moscow confirmed that North Korean soldiers fought against Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region. The Russian chief of staff Gerasimov said that they took part in “combat missions shoulder to shoulder with Russian servicemen during the repelling of the Ukrainian incursion” and “demonstrated high professionalism, showed fortitude, courage and heroism in battle,” reported agencies.

Ukraine, the U.S. and South Korea had claimed late last year that North Korea, which previously had supplied weapons to Moscow, had deployed 10-12,000 of its troops to Russia to fight in Kursk.