Some believe the plan was doomed after the US demanded that Ukraine hand over sovereignty over Crimea to Russia, something Zelensky is politically and constitutionally unable to do. If it fails, there are fears that Donald Trump will blame Ukraine and Europe and restore relations with Russia anyway, reward its aggression and announce the death of the world order as we know it.
A photo of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky sitting across from each other inside St. Peter’s Basilica to talk, apparently about peace, during the funeral of Pope Francis has quickly made the rounds on the Internet. An image that immediately went viral and will probably go down in history. Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky spoke for about ten minutes in the silence of the basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, in what was described by both sides as a positive face-to-face meeting. The White House described the discussion as “very productive”, while the Kiev leader claimed it was a “very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic”.
kick-off meeting
“We had a long face-to-face discussion. We hope for concrete results for everything we have discussed. The protection of the lives of our people, a complete and unconditional ceasefire, a credible and lasting peace that prevents the outbreak of another war,” Zelensky wrote on X. “I do not want to go into details, if possible, because these are very sensitive issues, obviously how to approach peace,” he said. Two leaders committed to peace in St. Peter’s Basilica”. And also for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “seeing Trump and Zelensky talking about peace at the funeral of the Pope of Peace has great significance”.
THIRD CHAIR
What did not escape the most attentive observers is a detail that is certainly not secondary: in addition to the two chairs in which the president of the United States and the president of Ukraine later sat, there was initially a third one, which then disappeared after a brief exchange of words between the protagonists. Of course, hypotheses immediately arose.
The first theory sees French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron as the first to be excluded from the confrontation between the leaders, as he himself approaches the two to greet them and shake their hands: a brief conversation begins, after which the third seat disappears. So, was the French president excluded from the debate? In reality, there is another hypothesis, since shortly before the “video cut”, after which only Trump and Zelensky are seen, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also appears in the scene.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE MEETING
Today’s meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican could be a turning point for the world, writes Dominic Waghorn for Sky News, adding that their meeting in St. Peter’s Basilica was like a confessional sitting with a penitent, except in this case both believe the other was wrong. In his social media posts after the meeting, the US president criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There was no reason for Putin to launch missiles at civilian areas, cities and towns in the last few days. This is why I think he may not want to stop the war, he should be dealt with differently, through secondary sanctions. Too many people are dying,” Trump wrote.
WHAT IS EXPECTED?
“President Putin has shown with these attacks that he is not ready for peace. He does not want to sign a ceasefire. President Trump needs to put pressure on President Putin, more than just telling him to stop aiming guns and missiles at Kiev. Real pressure is needed to bring Putin to the table,” said former US ambassador William B Taylor. Donald Trump’s peace plan is increasingly likely to fail, writes Dominic Waghorn for Sky News.
He also adds that some believe the plan was doomed after the US demanded that Ukraine hand over sovereignty over Crimea to Russia, something Zelensky is politically and constitutionally unable to do. If it fails, he fears Donald Trump will blame Ukraine and Europe and restore relations with Russia anyway, reward its aggression and announce the death of the world order as we know it.
