Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took the opportunity in Rome for Pope Leo XIV inaugural mass To meet the senior American officials and European leaders Sunday before a telephone call for high issues on Monday between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the War in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy spoke with vice-president JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the residence of the American ambassador to Rome. Zelenskyy said on social networks that he had underlined the need for “real diplomacy” and reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to a “full and unconditional ceasefire”.
“We have also discussed the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, the battlefield situation and the next exchange of prisoners,” he wrote. “Pressure is necessary against Russia until they are impatient to stop the war.”
It was the first face -to -face meeting between Vance and Zelenskyy since the Controversial meeting at the Oval Office in February.
Ukrainian Presidency / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images
Trump said on Saturday that he planned to speak with Putin on Monday of the “Blood Bath” stopped in Ukraine. He will then speak with Zelenskyy and the leaders of various NATO countries.
Rubio said “Face The Nation with Margaret Brennan” in an interview that broadcast on SundayHe thinks that the only way these talks will go ahead is that Mr. Trump and Putin meet in person. He said Trump has Offered publicly to meet on a head.
“The mechanics of the definition of this kind of meeting would require a little work, so I cannot say that this is planned when we speak in terms of selection of a site and a date,” said Rubio. “But the president wants to do it. He wants to do it as soon as possible.”
When asked if Russia and Ukraine were trying to speak to “buy time”, Rubio said: “We will know it soon.”
“On the one hand, we are trying to achieve peace and put an end to a very bloody, expensive and destructive war. So there is an element of patience that is necessary. On the other hand, we have no time to waste. There are many other things in the world to which we must also be careful.”
Zelenskyy also met Pope Leo after the mass.
Vatican Media / Vatican Pool – Corbis / Getty Images
“The authority and the voice of the Holy See can play an important role by putting an end to this war,” wrote the Ukrainian president on social networks.
He thanked the Vatican for his desire to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had spoken to Zelenskyy and Rubio on the sidelines of the Pope’s inauguration. Merz said he agreed with the leaders of France and Great Britain “that we are going to speak again with the American president in preparation for this conversation”.
Merz told journalists that “my farm is impression is that Europeans and Americans are determined to work together, but now also focused on objectives, to ensure that this terrible war ends soon”.
Poutine Zelenskyy offer rejected To meet opposite
The talks in Istanbul broke up after less than two hours, although the two parties agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the chiefs of the two delegations. Ukraine Intelligence Head Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian television on Saturday that the exchange could occur next week.
Vance also met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. Later in the day, the vice-president also met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and the two leaders were joined by British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Foreign Affairs Secretary David Lammy.
Vance told journalists before the meeting with Meloni and Von der Leyen that Europe is an “important ally of the United States”, while noting that “we have disagreements, as friends do sometimes, on questions like trade”. He added that he hoped that the conversations would be “the start of certain long-term commercial negotiations and certain long-term trade benefits between Europe and the United States”.
Drone dam in Ukraine
Zelenskyy meetings have occurred while Russia has launched what Ukraine called its largest drone dam against Ukraine since the start of its large-scale invasion in 2022, after the first direct talks between Moscow and kyiv over the years did not cease it on Friday.
Russia has drawn a total of 273 explosive drones and lures targeting the Ukrainian regions of kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, said Ukraine Air Force. Among these, 88 were intercepted and 128 lost, probably being stuck electronically.
Ukrainian emergency service via AP
Yuriy Ihnat, head of the Air Force communications department, told the Associated Press that the dam had been the biggest drone attack since the start of the Russia’s large -scale invasion.
Previously, the largest known drone attack in Russia was the day before the third anniversary of the war when Russia beat Ukraine with 267 drones.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses had shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight and 18 others on Sunday morning.