'Vance wasn't there': Trump ditching V.P. reportedly led to positive Trump-Zelenskyy talks
President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the pope's funeral went a lot better than their confrontation in the Oval Office, and sources say there's one big reason for that.
The pair briefly met Saturday at the Vatican while attending Pope Francis' funeral, and Axios reported new details of that tête-à-tête as Trump and Zelenskyy attempt to reach an agreement to end Russia's invasion.
"Zelensky received 'signals' ahead of Pope Francis' funeral that Trump was prepared to meet on the sidelines, the sources say," the website reported. Zelensky's advisers were nervous, and some — still traumatized by the scenes in the Oval on Feb. 28 — told Zelensky they weren't sure it was a good idea."
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No plans were finalized ahead of the meeting, which a source said was initially expected to come after the funeral, but the leaders ran into one another upon arrival and met alone in St. Peter's Basilica, where Zelensky told Trump that Vladimir Putin would not change his position unless Trump applies more pressure.
"One source said Trump replied that he might have to change his approach to Putin, as he later stated in his Truth Social post [threatening sanctions]," Axios reported. "Zelensky also pushed Trump to return to his initial proposal of an unconditional ceasefire as a starting point for peace talks, which Ukraine accepted but Russia rejected. One source said Trump seemed to agree."
Zelenskyy made clear that he would not recognize Crimea as Russian, which Trump insisted he was not asking him to do, but the U.S. president again pressed his counterpart to sign the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal as soon as possible.
Officials for each government declined to comment on the specifics of their conversation, but the sources said it seemed to have gone better than the contentious meeting in February at the White House.
"The sources said one potential reason this Trump-Zelensky meeting was more positive was that Vice President Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff — whom the Ukrainians see as more supportive of the Russian position — were not there," Axios reported.