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.
Trump said the meeting went well and played down the earlier row, saying “we had a little dispute because I disagreed with something he said and the cameras were rolling.”
“That meeting is going to go down in the history books,“ Waltz told Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures. “For President Trump to be a president of peace, to be talking peace and diplomacy in the Vatican, of all places.”
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.
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.
'Not close enough'
He said he believed Zelensky was ready to give up Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014 -- despite the Ukrainian leader repeatedly saying he would never do so.
Trump indicated that he would give the process “two weeks.”
Trump's comments about Putin reflected his frustration with Moscow's refusal to commit to a ceasefire, despite a series of meetings between Russian and US officials.
Witkoff -- who has been pictured warmly shaking hands with Putin and strolling with the Kremlin's economic advisor in a shopping district -- has however faced accusations from Ukraine of echoing Russian talking points.
One other person in Trump's close circle gave a personal call for peace after the Rome trip: First Lady Melania Trump, who marked her 55th birthday on the day of the funeral.
“I had the honor of attending Pope Francis’s funeral, on this day, where I prayed for the healing of those who are suffering and for peace in the world,“ she said on X on Sunday, along with a black-and-white picture of herself with eyes closed and a raised veil.
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