Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Vice President J.D. Vance sit down for a meeting in Rome, Italy, 18 May 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US Vice President J.D. Vance in Rome on Sunday ahead of a planned call between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Monday.

During the meeting, which was also attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, the men discussed Friday’s negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Zelensky wrote on X.

The Ukrainian president raised Moscow’s decision to send what he called a “low-level delegation of non-decision-makers” and stressed the need for further sanctions against Russia, as well as “joint steps” between Washington and Kyiv to ensure a “just and durable peace”.

“I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible, ” Zelensky said.

The White House confirmed the men had held discussions on their “shared goal of ending the bloodshed in Ukraine” as well as the “current state of negotiations for a ceasefire and lasting peace”.

The meeting was the first face-to-face encounter between Zelensky and Vance since the Ukrainian president’s ill-fated visit to the Oval Office in February, when Vance accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” towards Trump and not sufficiently thankful for US support.

The meeting at the Vatican followed the men’s attendance at the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, who said in his first mass on St. Peter’s Square that “the martyred Ukraine” was “waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen”.

Prior to meeting with Vance, Zelensky had an audience with Leo, during which he presented the pontiff with an icon of the Virgin Mary painted on part of an ammunition crate from the city of Izyum near the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

“For millions of people around the world, the Pontiff is a symbol of hope for peace. The authority and voice of the Holy See can play an important role in bringing this war to an end”, Zelensky wrote on X after meeting with Leo, adding that Ukraine remained ready for “dialogue in any format” to end the war.

The meetings came ahead of an expected call between Trump and Putin on Monday, the third time the two men will have spoken over the phone since Trump’s inauguration in January.

Announcing the call on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump wrote that he hoped to reach an agreement to stop the “bloodbath” in Ukraine and make progress towards a ceasefire.

“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END”, Trump said, adding that he would also speak with Zelensky and various NATO members after his call with Putin.