In a moment charged with both mourning and unexpected hope, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met privately at St. Peter’s Basilica just before the funeral Mass of Pope Francis. According to Joseph Tulloch (Vatican News), the meeting was described by the White House as “very productive,” while President Zelensky called it “a good meeting,” emphasizing they had “discussed a lot one on one.”
Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis was an unceasing voice for peace, especially concerning the war in Ukraine. He consistently called for an end to the violence, offering mediation efforts and frequently praying for “martyred Ukraine.” His appeals were, at their heart, a plea for dialogue — a call for world leaders to come together to find a path toward reconciliation and lasting peace.
On Saturday, this vision found a flicker of realization. Photos captured President Trump and President Zelensky sitting face-to-face in deep discussion within the Basilica. Zelensky later wrote on social media, “Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting the lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” according to Tulloch.
This meeting marked a dramatic shift from previous tensions. As Tulloch notes, the last face-to-face between Trump and Zelensky had “devolved into an acrimonious verbal brawl,” and just earlier this month, President Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had threatened to “walk away” from brokering a peace deal. Meanwhile, hostilities in Ukraine escalated, with Russia launching its deadliest air attack on Kyiv just two days before the funeral.
Yet Saturday’s meeting brought a new tone. Calling it a “very symbolic meeting, with the potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results,” President Zelensky’s words echoed the late pope’s enduring dream of a “just peace.”
If such a peace were to arise from this encounter — if real progress were made toward ending the war — many Catholics might see in it a fitting first miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope Francis, the pope who never stopped praying for peace.
