Italy Trump and Selensky meet in Rome for talks on Ukraine
US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky have met in Rome for talks on the sidelines of the funeral service for Pope Francis. The White House described the meeting as "very productive", with further details to be announced later. It was the first meeting between the two statesmen after a scandal in the White House at the end of February.
26.04.2025, 11:22
SDA
Trump wants to put an end to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and extract concessions from Zelensky. Selensky had previously categorically refused to relinquish the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, or other territories in eastern Ukraine annexed by Moscow.
At the end of February, a meeting between Trump, US Vice President JD Vance and Selensky led to a scandal in the White House. An agreement on US access to Ukrainian raw materials, including the globally coveted rare earths, also collapsed. Both sides had recently announced in a memorandum that they would sign a raw materials deal this week.
Trump sees agreement on "most important points"
According to Trump, the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine are close to a result after talks also held by his special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Friday. Russia was only represented at the memorial service in Rome by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova. Although the leadership in Moscow speaks of progress in the negotiations with Washington, it points out that detailed questions regarding an end to the war still need to be clarified.
Following the talks with Witkoff, Moscow had once again shown itself open to direct negotiations with Ukraine - as it did at the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in 2022. However, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has always demanded that Zelensky withdraw his decree prohibiting such negotiations.
Report speculates about territorial cessions
In his evening video message on Friday, Zelensky announced unspecified meetings that would lead to a ceasefire. According to a media report, Kiev has drawn up a counter-proposal to the US plans for ending the Russian war of aggression, which leaves room for possible compromises. For example, the plan, which is available to the New York Times, makes no mention of Ukraine regaining all of the territory annexed by Russia.
According to the newspaper, it also does not insist on Ukraine joining NATO. These are two points that were previously considered non-negotiable by the Ukrainian side. For Russia, on the other hand, the renunciation of Ukrainian Nato membership and the cession of territory by Kiev are key war aims.
In an interview with "Time Magazine", Trump said: "Crimea will remain with Russia". Selensky does not want to accept this. He admitted: "Ukraine does not have enough weapons to take back control of the Crimean peninsula with weapons." However, there are ways to achieve this through sanctions as well as economic and diplomatic pressure.
Zelensky continues to press for security guarantees from the USA
Despite several statements to the contrary from Washington, Zelensky continues to expect US security guarantees for his country. "We absolutely want them to be strong, at least as strong as Israel's," the head of state told Interfax-Ukraine journalists in Kiev before his departure for Rome. He also urged the delivery of further US-made Patriot air defense systems.
Furthermore, Zelenskyi expects a military presence from the European allies. Work is being done on the "infrastructure" of security guarantees. "Even where there are European troops, we are talking about backing from the United States of America," he emphasized. He had discussed with Trump that this backing did not necessarily require US troops in Ukraine. Cooperation between the intelligence services, defense against cyber attacks and air defense were discussed.
