Behind Zelensky and Trump's Vatican meeting

Zelensky–Trump meeting in Rome underscores fragile ties and Ukraine’s search for renewed U.S. backing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump met for a private discussion at the Vatican last week. Photo by Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP

By Anna Fadiah and Hayu Andini

In a quiet chapel beneath the shadow of an 18th-century painting of Christ’s baptism inside St. Peter’s Basilica, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump in a closely watched encounter that underscored the stakes for Kyiv’s wartime diplomacy. As mourners gathered for the funeral of Pope Francis, the brief but symbolically charged meeting between Zelensky and Trump highlighted Ukraine’s increasingly precarious position in its struggle for sustained Western support.

The Zelensky meets Trump encounter took place during a solemn weekend in Rome and lasted only 15 minutes. Yet behind the brevity was a layered interplay of strategic calculations, political showmanship, and urgent appeals from a wartime leader under intensifying pressure. According to sources familiar with the arrangement, the meeting came together through a mix of quiet planning and last-minute spontaneity, with European intermediaries like French President Emmanuel Macron playing a key role in facilitating dialogue.

A diplomatic intervention by Macron

As global leaders assembled within the Vatican walls, Macron reportedly initiated a conversation with Trump, urging a harder stance on Russia. “We need to be much tougher with the Russians,” Macron was quoted as saying, according to an interview with Paris Match. Seizing the moment, Zelensky approached the two leaders and suggested a private discussion with Trump. The interpreter’s chair was swiftly removed—Zelensky preferred a direct, one-on-one exchange.

Trump later described the atmosphere to reporters as “a beautiful meeting” in “the nicest office I’ve ever seen,” expressing rare sentimentality. Zelensky, for his part, characterized the talk as meaningful and used every minute “to the fullest.”

A moment with immediate, if limited, impact

Though the meeting did not yield sweeping policy shifts, it did provoke ripples. Trump, in a rare move, sharply criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin afterward and floated new banking sanctions. Zelensky confirmed that they had ironed out a thorny economic agreement, signed just days later, which had become a stumbling block in U.S.–Ukraine relations.

Still, the impact was tempered. Trump did not follow through with fresh sanctions on Moscow, nor did he offer firm assurances about future aid. He continued to publicly criticize Zelensky, revealing the enduring tension in their dynamic.

Theater and diplomacy collide

The Zelensky–Trump meeting was as much about optics as it was about policy. Diplomacy, especially in Trump’s world, often hinges on performance. European leaders are no strangers to this. Macron famously invited Trump to a Bastille Day military parade in 2017. King Charles III recently extended a second state visit invitation, and Trump previously attended a state banquet with Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.

Mike Waltz, removed from his post as Trump’s national security adviser just days before, emphasized the spectacle of the meeting's setting. “Surrounded by marble, the two leaders face-to-face—it was iconic,” he told Fox News. “Trump loved the gold.”

Zelensky’s flair for symbolism

Zelensky, a former comedian and television star, is no stranger to dramatic settings either. His 2019 election campaign was filled with theatrical moments, including a stadium debate with the incumbent. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelensky’s video from Kyiv—declaring “we are here”—galvanized the West into sending aid.

The Ukrainian president’s skill in harnessing symbolic power has at times clashed with more traditional diplomacy. His straightforward style has caused friction, even among allies. A meeting with President Joe Biden in 2022 turned tense when Zelensky pressed the NATO membership issue too aggressively, prompting Biden to flatly say: “No NATO.”

Such bluntness has irked Trump in particular. Earlier this year, after Zelensky warned that Trump was echoing Kremlin narratives, Trump called him a “dictator without elections.”

A missed gift, an icy exchange

The Vatican meeting followed a tense Oval Office encounter in February where Trump suspended military assistance and demanded that Ukraine sign a lopsided economic agreement. Hoping to reset the tone, Zelensky had come to Washington bearing a symbolic gift: a championship belt from Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. The gesture mimicked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s gold pager offering to Trump during a previous meeting.

But Zelensky never got the chance to present it. The meeting disintegrated when Vice President JD Vance accused him of ingratitude, prompting Trump’s staff to eject the Ukrainian delegation from the White House. Zelensky, flanked and outnumbered, tried to respond—but the damage was done.

Domestic boost, international fallout

Despite the fallout in Washington, Zelensky’s domestic standing improved. A Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll showed his approval rating rebounding from a wartime low of 52% in December to 67% following the confrontation. Many Ukrainians saw his refusal to back down as principled.

“If he had said anything else, he would have lost support at home,” said Olga Onuch, a professor at the University of Manchester and author of The Zelensky Effect. “Even his critics believed he held the line.”

Still, Zelensky has attempted to de-escalate since. In a letter to Trump, he expressed regret for the friction. He agreed to a proposed 30-day cease-fire—though Russia has yet to participate—and greenlighted a Black Sea truce and a minerals deal, despite the absence of clear security assurances.

Tensions remain under the surface

While these steps showed flexibility, critics argue they did little to truly thaw relations. Trump’s broader foreign policy goal—a global reset with Russia—means Zelensky remains an obstacle rather than a partner, said defense analyst Michael Clarke.

“Trump’s ambition is a rapprochement with Russia,” Clarke said. “Zelensky just represents an irritation. No amount of talking will change that.”

Even as Trump offered rhetorical support for Ukraine’s suffering during the Vatican meeting, he hesitated to commit personally to Zelensky. In a later interview, Trump was asked whether anything Putin could do would make him take Zelensky’s side. His response was telling: “On Ukraine’s side, yes. But not necessarily on Zelensky’s side.”

An intimate setting, a fragile breakthrough

Photographs released by Zelensky’s office captured a striking scene: two presidents hunched closely together on simple chairs arranged in the baptistery chapel of the Basilica. No aides. No scripts. Just two powerful men navigating a complicated alliance in the shadow of a global conflict.

“The best thing about that meeting is that it was just the two of them,” said Zelensky’s former adviser Ihor Novikov. “When you have other voices in the room, especially from Trump’s side, things get distorted.”

As applause rang out later for Zelensky—dressed in black fatigues—as he moved to his seat among world leaders attending the pope’s funeral, the symbolism remained potent. He was still a wartime leader, still defiant, and still seeking support.

Whether the Zelensky–Trump meeting in Rome will be remembered as a turning point or a fleeting moment of peace remains to be seen. For now, it stands as a diplomatic vignette filled with symbolism, tension, and the raw need for allies in a war that shows no sign of ending.