What Zelensky told Trump at Pope Francis' funeral
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his 15 minutes with President Trump in the Vatican count, urging Trump to take a tougher line with Vladimir Putin and reprioritize a ceasefire, two sources briefed on Saturday's meeting tell Axios.
Why it matters: Zelensky's advisers were divided about whether he should even risk the tête-à-tête after the disaster in the Oval Office. But after it, Zelensky felt he'd managed to shift Trump's thinking about Putin for the first time, the sources say.
- On Air Force One on his way back to the U.S., Trump made a rare threat to Putin in response to a massive aerial attack on Kyiv.
- "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through Banking or Secondary Sanctions?" Trump posted on Truth Social.
Behind the scenes: Zelensky received "signals" ahead of Pope Francis' funeral that Trump was prepared to meet on the sidelines, the sources say.
- Zelensky's advisers were nervous, and some — still traumatized by the scenes in the Oval on Feb. 28 — told Zelensky they weren't sure it was a good idea.
- Nothing was finalized in advance, and the idea was initially that they would try to meet after the funeral, one of the sources said.
- But then the leaders bumped into each other upon arrival. They found a spot to meet alone in St. Peter's Basilica.
Zoom in: Zelensky told Trump that Putin would not budge unless Trump applied more pressure, the sources say.
- One source said Trump replied that he might have to change his approach to Putin, as he later stated in his Truth Social post.
- Zelensky also pushed Trump to return to his initial proposal of an unconditional ceasefire as a starting point for peace talks, which Ukraine accepted but Russia rejected.
- One source said Trump seemed to agree. The White House didn't confirm or deny that. A spokesperson for Zelensky declined to comment on the contents of the meeting.
Between the lines: When the ceasefire push failed, the Trump administration switched to pushing a peace deal framework, which Zelensky rejected in part because it includes recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
- Zelensky reiterated in the meeting that he won't recognize Crimea as Russian, and Trump made clear that he's not asking him to, one source said. The plan calls for U.S. recognition, not Ukrainian.
- The source said Zelensky told Trump he's not afraid of making concessions to end the war, but he needs strong enough security guarantees to do so.
- Trump pressed Zelensky during the conversation to sign the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal as soon as possible, the source said.
- "We do not comment on ongoing negotiations or the President's private discussions with world leaders," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios.
The intrigue: The sources said one potential reason this Trump-Zelensky meeting was more positive was that Vice President Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff — whom the Ukrainians see as more supportive of the Russian position — were not there.
- Zelensky was supposed to be interviewed on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday morning, but Zelensky decided to cancel after some technical hiccups with the translation.
- "It was a great meeting and Zelensky didn't want to take any chances," the source said.
What to watch: It's unclear if Trump's more critical tone toward Putin will last.
- In an interview with ABC News that aired on Tuesday night Trump said again that Putin "could be tapping me along a little bit," though he said he still thinks Putin wants to end the war.
- State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce reiterated Tuesday that the administration is prepared to "step back as mediators" if there is not progress soon.
