Can Trump-Zelensky Vatican talks bring Ukraine peace?

BEDMINSTER, United States: Donald Trump´s meeting in the Vatican with Volodymyr Zelensky was hailed by both sides as one for the history books.

Whether it will help seal a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia will become clearer in the coming days. Brought together by the funeral of Pope Francis, the US and Ukrainian presidents sat knee-to-knee on red and gold chairs in the giant nave of Saint Peter´s Basilica, in their first meeting since their blazing televised row in the Oval Office in February.

“How iconic,” Trump´s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News´s “Sunday Morning Futures,” in the first detailed comments from the White House since Saturday´s encounter. “That setting, that scene, that meeting is going to go down in the history books. For President Trump to be a president of peace, to be talking peace and diplomacy in the Vatican, of all places.”

Zelensky gave a similar verdict, saying it was a “very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.” French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also turned up at the meeting, reflecting efforts by European powers to keep an often skeptical Trump singing from the same hymn sheet. And whatever Zelensky said during the Vatican encounter, it appeared to work.

Hours afterwards, Trump appeared to turn against Vladimir Putin for the first time -- a sharp reversal given his recent favorable tone towards the Russian leader. Trump said on Truth Social that Russia´s continued attacks “makes me think maybe he doesn´t want to stop the war, he´s just tapping me along” and raised the possibility of fresh sanctions on Moscow.