Today's Edition
Rome (AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the upcoming telephone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a brief meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Rome on Sunday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
Zelensky and Vance discussed "the situation on the front, preparations for the (Trump-Putin) conversation on Monday," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump on Saturday said that he would speak by phone with Putin to end the war in Ukraine, a day after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in more than three years did not yield a ceasefire.
"The message is the same as before: we want to end the war, and they don't," said the source, referring to what Zelensky told Vance during the encounter.
Zelensky was earlier granted an audience with Pope Leo XIV following his inauguration at the Vatican.
"We thank the Vatican for its willingness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia," he said after meeting the pontiff.
The Ukrainian President met Vance for the first time since a heated debate in the Oval Office three months ago.
