Zelenskyy Says Vatican Meeting With Trump Was the Best So Far

Zelenskyy touted the U.S.–Ukraine minerals deal as a key outcome of the meeting, urging Ukrainian lawmakers to ratify it quickly.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump meet, while they attend the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican April 26, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters/File Photo

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that his meeting with President Donald Trump at the Vatican a week ago was the “most substantive” the two have ever held.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on May 2, Zelenskyy said the encounter with Trump, which took place on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral on April 26, marked a shift in tone and substance between the two leaders.