It was not on the official Vatican agenda on this papal funeral day. But the fate of Ukraine greatly occupied the spirits on Saturday, April 26 in Rome, apart from Pope Francis’s funeral.
The event, which brought together 400,000 faithful throughout the funeral procession, allowed the main leaders present, committed to reaching a peace process, speaking. And this, despite the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• A very productive meeting of Trump-Zelensky
If the image of the Romans who welcomes the Pontiff’s coffin for the last time aboard the Papamobile in front of the Colosseum, Tête-à-Tête makeshift between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed, he became particularly Saturday.
Sitting face to face, the face of a few centimeters from each other, in two armchairs in the middle of a large room in the Saint-Pierre Basilica, US presidents and Ukrainians discussed for fifteen minutes. An even more surprising exchange in view of his last interview in the presence of the United States vice president JD Vance, ended torments at the White House on February 28.
Volodymyr Zelensky said this time to wait “results in all the points discussed” after a “good meeting” with the billionaire, which grows strongly for a cessation of hostilities between Ukrainians and Russians.
The Ukrainian president repeated in X that he wanted “a high total and unconditional fire.” It is “a very symbolic meeting that could become historical if we reach common results,” added the manager, who also met with the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in the afternoon. She promised the support of the Union during the negotiations.
For his part, Steven Cheung, Communications Director of the White House, described the dialogue as “very productive”, without more on the aforementioned issues. However, Donald Trump quickly stayed from Rome to the United States aboard Air Force One. Originally, a second interview was planned between the two men.
• Positive exchanges also with Macron and Starmer
He also invested in the Ukrainian Archive, Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also met Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky during a rally at four.
“I confirm that in fact there was an exchange of the president with Donald Trump, Volodymyr. Zelensky and Keir Starmer and that it was positive,” said an Elysée advisor of AFP. A photo shared by Kyiv’s presidential press shows Emmanuel Macron, his hand on the shoulder of his Ukrainian counterpart during exchanges.
Volodymyr Zelensky then bilaterally maintained with the Chiefs of French and British state, the two European nuclear powers that can be called to play an important role in providing possible security guarantees to Ukraine in case of stopping hostilities.
Emmanuel Macron praised a “very positive exchange” with his Ukrainian counterpart, in Villa Bonaparte, which houses the French embassy near the Holy See in Rome.
“Ukraine is ready for a high unconditional fire. President Zelensky reiterated it today. He wishes to work with Americans and Europeans to implement it,” said the President of the Republic in a message posted in X.
“End the war in Ukraine is the goal we share in common with President Trump,” he said before putting the ball again in the Russian camp: “President Putin now to prove that he really wants peace,”
London has expressed discussions about “the progress made in recent days to guarantee fair and lasting peace in Ukraine.” Volodymyr Zelensky and Keir Starmer “agreed to maintain the dynamics and continue working actively with their international partners,” according to a statement from the British government.
• Putin says he is ready to negotiate “without any prerequisite”
According to an arrest warrant against the International Criminal Court, Vladimir Putin was not present at the Holy See, represented by its Minister of Culture Olga Lioubimova. But Moscow’s communication coincided with the most outstanding aspects of the day.
On Saturday, Kremlin Dmitri Peskov spokesman said the Russian president said the day before at Donald Trump’s emissary, Steve Witkoff, during his interview, being ready to “resume the negotiation process with Ukraine without any prerequisite.”
However, he regularly repeated his maximalist requirements on Ukraine: the control of the five Ukrainian regions whose Moscow affirms the annexation, the resignation of Ukraine to join NATO and its demilitarization.
Shortly after, Donald Trump reacted sharing his doubts about the process in a message posted in Truth Social.
“There was no reason for Putin to shoot missiles in civil areas, cities and villages, in recent days. It makes me think that, perhaps, he does not want to stop the war and that he is walking, and then you have to do the opposite,” he wrote on his network, punishing that “too many people die!”
Donald Trump evokes two alternative options as such: reaching the banking system and strengthening sanctions against Russia, already very important.
• Moscow claims to have assumed the Koursk region, Kyiv denies
During the funerals in Rome, Moscow finally announced that it has reconquered the entire territory in the Koursk region, where the Ukrainians had launched an offensive in August 2024. Information that Kyiv denied, stating that the fighting continued.
Vladimir Putin had made it clear that he was not ready to negotiate the result of the conflict while the Ukrainian forces were not completely “motivated” in this area.
Kyiv described this advertisement made In full diplomatic effervescence On the result of the “false” and “propaganda” conflict. For several weeks, kyiv troops have returned in decline in this area of the front, the Russian army gradually incorporating from the territory.
The Ukrainian army quickly denounced “false” information, swearing that the fights “continue” in the area. “The statements of enemy leaders about the ‘defeat’ of Ukrainian forces are nothing more than propaganda maneuvers,” he said in a statement.
“There is no threat to surround our units,” said this source, however, evoking a “difficult” situation.
Source: BFM TV
