Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump have met in Rome ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral.

Officials from both parties confirmed the meeting had taken place, with the White House describing it as “very productive”. No further details on the discussion have been released.

Trump and Zelensky are attending the service in Vatican City alongside other heads of state and royals, including Prince William, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Useful meeting

Their meeting comes one day after Trump said Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal”, following talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday.

The meeting was the fourth such visit Witkoff had made to Russia since the start of the year, with the three-hour talks later described as “very useful” by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.

Private encounter

Ushakov also added that it had brought the “Russian and US positions closer together, not just on Ukraine but also on a range of other international issues” of which the “possibility of resuming direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives was in particular discussed.

Steven Cheung, White House communications director, said more details about Saturday’s private meeting between Trump and Zelensky would follow.