[Text/Observer Network Liu Chenghui] Three months after the change of the US government, Ukraine and Russia have yet to reach a consensus on a peace agreement. Seeing that the situation is out of control, Trump, who has repeatedly claimed to "resolve the conflict in 24 hours," also appears increasingly agitated.
On April 26 local time, US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy held a brief meeting during the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Trump then harshly criticized the way the American Democratic government handled the Ukraine issue on his Truth Social platform and attacked Russia's continued bombardment of Ukraine, blasting Russian President Putin for "maybe not wanting to stop the 'war' and just fooling around with me."
According to CNN, shortly before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis, the US and Ukrainian leaders had a short meeting of about ten minutes in St. Peter's Basilica. Photos from the scene showed Trump wearing a blue suit and Zelenskyy wearing a black top and pants. The two sat face-to-face on chairs exchanging conversations.
This was the first face-to-face meeting between US and Ukrainian leaders since their intense argument in the White House in late February.
After the meeting, Trump and Zelenskyy walked down the steps of the basilica. Zelenskyy's arrival was warmly welcomed by the crowd, and they then took seats in the front row.
During the funeral ceremony, the two sat apart but not far from each other, with French President Macron and other heads of state in between.
April 26, Zelenskyy and Trump held a brief meeting at the Pope's funeral. Visual China
The White House said in a statement that the 15-minute meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy was "highly productive." Zelenskyy described that the two leaders discussed many issues one-on-one, calling this meeting "a very symbolic meeting. If we can achieve common results, it could become a historic meeting."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Serhiychuk also posted a photo of the meeting on X and commented, "No words are needed to describe the importance of this historic meeting. The two leaders worked for peace in St. Peter's Basilica."
Trump later posted on social media again, criticizing Obama and Biden's handling of the Ukraine issue and saying, "I'm just trying to clean up the mess left by Obama and Biden, it's a complete mess."
He added, "That said, Putin has been launching missiles into civilian areas, cities, and towns without reason in recent days. This makes me feel that maybe he doesn't want to stop the 'war' and is just fooling around with me (Tapping me along). We must respond differently, such as 'bank sanctions' or 'secondary sanctions'? Too many people are dying!!!"
That day, Zelenskyy also held separate meetings with the leaders of France and the UK as well as European Commission President von der Leyen. He posted on social media that an unconditional ceasefire must be achieved in all areas - air, sea, and land - which is the primary step toward establishing a fair and lasting peace based on reliable security guarantees. He said that only by building strong guarantee mechanisms can lasting peace be ensured and the safety of people's lives truly protected.
Macron posted on April 26 that he had held talks with Zelenskyy in Rome. He revealed that Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire and hopes to cooperate with the US and European countries to advance this process.
April 26, US, UK, French, and Ukrainian leaders talked during the Pope's funeral. Social Media
Trump previously stated that after three hours of talks between US Middle East envoy Witkowski and Putin on April 25, Russia and Ukraine were "very close to reaching an agreement."
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said on April 26 in response to media questions that Putin confirmed during his meeting with Witkowski on April 25 that Russia is prepared to negotiate with Ukraine without preconditions.
Reuters believes that both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are under pressure from the United States. Last week, the Trump administration threatened to abandon efforts to promote peace if there were no substantial progress in the peace process.
Following the end of the temporary Easter ceasefire of 30 hours, Russian forces conducted multiple long-range strikes against military and industrial facilities in Ukraine this week. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Russian forces only target military objectives or civilian places used by enemy forces.
Putin said on April 21 that Russia always holds a positive attitude towards a ceasefire, "We hold a positive attitude towards any peace initiative. We hope that representatives of the Kiev regime also share the same thoughts."
It should be noted that Time magazine published an interview with Trump on April 25. In response to his previous claim of ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict on "day one" of his presidency, Trump responded that this statement was not serious and should not be taken literally.
"Well, I said it figuratively, and it was an exaggerated statement," Trump said, "Obviously, people know that when I say this, I am joking. But I also said that everything (the Russia-Ukraine conflict) will end."
CNN reported that Trump's claim of "joking" is entirely false. CNN said that Trump made this kind of promise at least 53 times. CNN said that Trump often made these promises in an extremely serious tone and attitude, not joking.
This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7497793093777883698/
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