The conference took place two days after Ukraine and Russia held their first direct negotiations in more than three years in Turkey, when no ceasefire was secured despite an agreement to exchange prisoners.
For the first time since the contentious White House discussion in February, when Russia launched a “record” drone attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday.
The conference took place two days after Ukraine and Russia held their first direct negotiations in more than three years in Turkey, when no ceasefire was secured despite an agreement to exchange prisoners.
After attending Pope Leo’s inauguration service in the Vatican, Zelensky met with Vance at the US ambassador’s residence in Rome. “We discussed the talks in Istanbul, where the Russians sent a low-level delegation with no decision-making powers,” Zelensky posted on Telegram after the meeting.
“We also touched on the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, the situation on the battlefield, and the future exchange of prisoners,” Zelensky said.
At the discussion, which was also attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Zelensky’s adviser Andriy Yermak, the two sides talked about how to move toward a fair and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
Vance also met with Georgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
Zelensky and Vance also talked about getting ready for Monday’s phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, a senior Ukrainian official from the president’s office told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On Saturday, Trump posted on his social media account, Truth Social, that he will call Putin on Monday to put an end to the “BLOODBATH” in Ukraine.
According to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the leaders of Britain, Germany, and France also want to speak with Trump before that meeting with Putin.
In addition to putting more pressure on Ukraine, the US president has refrained from criticizing Putin, who initiated the largest European conflict since World War Two.
“Better” conversations
Vance publicly accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” to Trump, who told the Ukrainian leader he should be more “thankful” and that he had no “cards” to play in negotiations with Russia. The person said the Rome encounter went “better” than the Oval Office dispute three months ago.
After Leo’s inauguration, Zelensky and his spouse, Olena Zelenska, were previously given an audience with him.
The leader of Ukraine remarked, “We thank the Vatican for its willingness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia,” following their meeting with the church leader.
“The martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen,” Leo XIV declared during his inauguration.
-Record’ drone bombardment-
Ukraine claimed on Sunday that Russia had killed a lady in the capital city of Kyiv after launching a record number of drones against the nation overnight.
In the southeast Kherson area, a train station, residential residences, and automobiles were struck, killing another individual.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched “273 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones,” of which 128 went awry “without negative consequences” and 88 were destroyed.
There was a “record” amount of drones, according to Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. “Russia has a clear goal — to continue killing civilians,” she stated.
Overnight and Sunday morning, the Russian military claimed to have intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones. As it steps up the war effort in spite of the peace negotiations in Istanbul, Moscow also asserted that it had taken control of Bahatyr, another village in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
“Root causes”
Putin stated without further explanation that Moscow’s goal was to “eliminate the causes that triggered this crisis, create the conditions for a lasting peace, and guarantee Russia’s security” in an interview with Russian state TV that was broadcast on Sunday.
The “root causes” of the conflict that Russia usually refers to are purported grievances with Kyiv and the West, which Moscow has used as an excuse for initiating the invasion in February 2022.
These include promises to “de-Nazify” and demilitarize Ukraine, safeguard Russian speakers in the east of the country, resist NATO’s expansion, and halt Ukraine’s geopolitical slide westward.
According to Kyiv and the West, Russia’s invasion is only a land grab akin to that of imperialism.
Since Russia initiated the conflict, millions of people have been displaced and tens of thousands have died.
Following negotiations in Turkey on Friday, an agreement was reached to swap 1,000 detainees each.
