Donald Trump blasts Vladimir Putin. Are Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine having the upper hand over Russia?

US President Donald Trump said that maybe Russian President Vladimir Putin 'doesn't want to stop the war' in Ukraine even as the Kremlin said on Saturday that Moscow was ready to hold peace talks with Ukraine "without preconditions".

"During yesterday's talks with Trump's envoy Witkoff, Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Putin has repeated that several times in the past.

President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met briefly on Saturday before the funeral for Pope Francis as the American leader steps up the pressure to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.


It was the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and the Ukrainian leader since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in late February.

Zelenskyy’s office had said teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday, but Trump went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One for the 10-hour flight back to the United States, which seemed to rule out a second in-person conversation. Zelenskyy's spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said Trump and Zelenskyy did not meet again in person because of their tight schedules.

Zelenskyy said “good meeting” on social media after the funeral.

The White House called the discussion “very productive” and said it would release more details later. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where Francis often preached the need for a peaceful end to the war, just before Trump and Zelenskyy took their seats at the outdoor funeral service.

The meeting came together hours after Trump said on social media, after he arrived in Italy late Friday, that Russia and Ukraine should meet for “very high level talks” on ending the three-year war that was sparked by Russia’s invasion.

Trump has pressed both sides to quickly come to an agreement to end the war, but while Zelenskyy agreed to an American plan for an initial 30-day halt to hostilities, Russia has not signed on and has continued to strike at targets inside Ukraine.

FAQs

Q1. Who is President of USA?
A1. President of USA is Donald Trump.

Q2. Who is President of Ukraine?
A2. President of Ukraine is Volodymyr Zelenskyy.