Zelensky and Vance meet in Rome ahead of crucial Trump-Putin call
US vice president JD Vance met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome on Sunday, ahead of a planned call between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The meeting between Vance and Zelensky was their first since their public clash at the White House in late February. The half-hour meeting on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV's inauguration went "better" than the previous one, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
The two reportedly discussed the situation on the front line in Ukraine, preparations for Monday's conversation between Trump and Putin, and potential sanctions against Russia if a ceasefire deal could not be reached.
Crucial week
On Saturday, Trump announced that he would hold a telephone conversation with Putin on Monday to discuss a ceasefire and an end to the war in Ukraine. German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that he and the leaders of Britain, France and Poland aimed to speak with Trump ahead of the planned call.
Speaking in Rome on Sunday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that next week would be crucial for peace negotiations in Ukraine. “What is certainly important now is that we push that things are moving forward, and I think the next week will be crucial in this regard,” she said.
JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands ahead of Pope Leo XIV's inauguration mass in St Peter's Square, Vatican City © JACQUELYN MARTIN / POOL / AFP
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