President Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania, were among the key world figures to attend Pope Francis’ funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Saturday, April 26. Trump joined dozens of heads of state to bid farewell to the leader of the Catholic Church, who died on April 21, at the age of 88, after a series of complicated health issues.
But ahead of taking his seat for the service, Trump had a brief meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two met on the sidelines of the funeral, before proceedings began. It was their first in-person meeting since their highly-documented Oval Office showdown in February, which saw the two world leaders clash when discussing the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The Trump-Zelensky sit-down comes shortly after Trump delivered a rare public rebuke of Russian President Vladmir Putin, with whom he has typically enjoyed a strong relationship. Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, April 24, Trump called out Russia’s leader over a deadly attack on Kyiv, Ukraine. “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!,” he wrote.
Although Trump had previously said that he would end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his second term in the White House, the conflict rages on. In a sit-down interview with TIME on April 22, Trump answered whether he felt peace was possible if Putin is still President of Russia.
“I think with me as President, there’s—possible, if [a] very probable [chance],” Trump said. “If somebody else is President, no chance.”
Trump went on to say: “I believe I’m the only one that can get this thing negotiated. And I think we’re a long way. We’ve had very good talks, and we’re getting very close to a deal. And I don’t believe anybody else could have made that deal.”
Read More: The Full Transcript of Donald Trump’s ‘100 Days’ Interview With TIME
However, Trump shared a vastly different sentiment on Saturday, April 26, when he returned to Truth Social in the hours following Pope Francis’ funeral.
Trump expressed doubt that Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine, and hinted at sanctions against Russia.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities, and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!”
