Something seems to change in the Ukrainian issue after meeting Donald Trump and his Volodimir Zelenski On Saturday morning (27/04/2025) in the Vatican.
At the same time Donald Trump, after his conversation with Volodimir Zelenski In the wake of Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican, attacked through Truth Social to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
«It makes me think that it may not want to stop the war, it just plays with me“, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social after meeting with Zelenski on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, adding that Putin may have to be ‘treated differently’, with more sanctions.
This statement According to the New York Times creates hope in Ukraine and is a small “victory” by Zelenski.
The United States are pushing Ukraine to accept a peace plan that is partly shown as a gift to Moscow. The proposal would force Kiev to abandon his ambitions to join NATO, would offered Ukraine only vague security guarantees and would see the US formally recognize Crimea as a Russian. Ukraine has rejected this agreementwhich the Trump government had described as its final offer.
But now, Ukrainians see a little ray of hope that Trump will not try to force Ukraine to one one -sided Peace plan.
The US president first reported so open to the last attacks in Ukrainewhere 12 people were killed and injured almost 90.
“Vladimir, Stop,” he wrote to Truth Social, in one of the Rare times of the Russian president managed.
The “Excellent Photos” from the Vatican
And then hope increased on Saturday, When Zelenski managed to win about 15 minutes with Trump in Rome. The photos released by the Ukrainian government showed the two men sitting in chairs and bent over each other, speaking as equal to equal.
A very different scene From the devastating meeting at the Oval Office At the end of February, which ended up with the steep departure of Zelenski from the White House and the temporary freezing of any American aid.
The photos from Rome were “excellent,” said Volodymyr Dubovyk, director of the Center for International Studies at Odessa National University. He added that it was good for Zelenski to have a little time alone with Trump.
“Trump’s team has been very exposed to the Kremlin and his discussion points lately, so that Kiev can present his point of view directly to Trump was useful, I guess. Maybe Trump is just a little better understanding Ukraine’s concerns, “Mr Dubovyk said.
The fear of changing Trump again
Kiev, on the other hand, acknowledges that Trump can change his mind at dizzying speed, but they are optimistic of the fact that the White House described Saturday’s “very productive debate” as a “very productive discussion”.
Oleh Karas, 40, who was gathering donations for Drones outside a monument of fallen soldiers, described the photos of the two leaders “amazing” and said he seemed “Trump was listening to him”.
As he stood in front of thousands of flags planted on the ground, each of which marked a dead soldier, Mr Karas said: “You should bring Trump here. To see this place. To go where the rocket hit. To see what happened. “
Even something as small as Trump’s brief meeting with Zelensky looked like a big change. Since taking over its duties, the Trump government has occasionally appeared to Putin and have not hidden the dislike for the Ukrainian leader.
Thus, Trump’s statements on Truth Social after the meeting appeared to many in Ukraine as a justification or what they have been saying for years: that Putin may not tell the truth. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Since then, Ukraine has also been fighting Russia in the eastern region of Donbas and Putin has violated many peace agreements with the aim of ending violence there. The Russian leader also repeatedly claimed that he had no intention of having a broader invasion of Ukraine – until his tanks crossed the border in 2022 to begin the full -scale invasion.
This story is why the Ukrainian government insisted that any peace agreement in this war with Russia should include strong security guarantees and which it wanted to join NATO, even though this dream has been suspended.
Too early to talk about terms tells the Kremlin
Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters on Sunday (27/04/2025) that it was too early to talk about the terms of any peace agreement, adding that the negotiations are not public.
The Ukrainians have contradicted the Trump government’s peace plan with their own, which provides for a European peacekeeping force with the United States providing aid. In a post on social media after Saturday’s meeting, Zelenski did not go into details of his conversation with Trump, but said they talked about a “full and unconditional ceasefire” and a “reliable and constant peace”.