Zelensky Says Trump’s Ukraine Stance May Be Shifting After Vatican Meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said US President Donald Trump’s perspective on the war in Ukraine may be shifting following their first face-to-face meeting since a tense exchange at the White House at the end of February.

The two leaders had met at Pope Francis’s funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on April 26.

“I am confident that after our meeting in the Vatican, President Trump began to look at things a little differently,” Zelensky told a small group of journalists, including AFP, in remarks embargoed until Saturday. “We’ll see. That’s his vision, his choice in any case.”

As reported by Ukrinform, during the meeting with Trump, Zelensky said he raised the issue of strengthening US sanctions against Russia, describing the one-on-one conversation as their “most substantive” discussion to date.

“It may have been the shortest, but it was the most meaningful,” Zelensky said. “With all due respect to our teams, the one-on-one format, in my opinion, worked. We had the right atmosphere.”

The Ukrainian leader said Trump expressed a firm stance on the possibility of additional sanctions, though he did not disclose specifics. “What he told me sounds very strong,” Zelensky added.

On Wednesday, April 30, Republican senator and staunch Trump supporter Lindsey Graham said that 72 US senators support a bill that would impose “bone-crushing” sanctions on Russia and stiff tariffs that buy its oil and gas.

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