Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy Tok, the opportunity, while in Rome for Pope Leo XIVS Inaugural Mass to meet with the main American officials and European leaders on Sunday before a high -risk telephone call on Monday between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the War in Ukraine.
Zenskyy spoke with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the residence of the United States ambassador to Rome. Zenskyy said on social networks that he had underlined the need for “real diplomacy” and reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to a “high and unconditional fire.”
“We have also touched the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, sitting on the battlefield and the next exchange of prisoners,” Hey. “Pressure against Russia is needed until they are eager to stop war.”
It was the first face to face between Vance and Zenskyy his Contentious meeting at the Oval office in February.
Ukrainian Presidency / Brochure / Anadolu through Getty Images 
Trump said on Saturday that he plans to talk to Putin on Monday to stop the “blood bath” in Ukraine. Hello, then talk to Zenskyy and leaders from several NATO countries.
Rubio said “In front of the nation with Margaret Brennan” in an interview that was broadcast on SundayHe believes that the only way the thesis progresses is if Trump and Putin measure in person. Hey said Trump has He publicly offered to meet one by one.
“The mechanics of establishing that child of the meeting would require a little work, so I cannot say that we are planning while talking in terms of choosing a site and a date,” said Rubio. “But the president wants to do it. Hello, he wants to do it as feasible.”
When asked if Russia and Ukraine seek to talk to “Buy Time,” Rubio said: “We will discover it very soon.”
“On the one hand, we are trying to achieve peace and put an end to a very bloody, expensive and destructive war. Then, there is some element of patience that is requested. On the other hand, we do not have time to lose. There we are a paties that happen in the gap.”
Zenskyy also with Pope Leo after Mass.
Vatican Media/Vatican Pool – Corbis/Getty Images 
“The authority and voice of the Holy See can play an important role in putting an end to this war,” wrote the Ukrainian president on social networks.
He thanked the Vatican for his preparation to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he spoke with Zenskyy and Rubio outside the Pope’s inauguration. Merz said he had agreed with the leaders of France and Great Britain “that we will talk again with the US president in preparation for this conversation.”
Merz told journalists that “my firm impression is that both Europeans and Americans are determined to work together, but now also oriented to objectives, to ensure that the terrible war ends their son.”
Putin Rejected Zenskyy’s sacrifice To meet face to face in Turkey after the proposed direct negotiations, Alhegh not at the presidential level, as an alternative to a high fire fired by Ukraine and its western allies, including the United States.
The conversations in Istanbul separated after less than two hours, Althegh both parties agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations. The Chief of Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian television on Saturday that the exchange could happen as soon as next week.
Vance also with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. Later in the day, the vice president with the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney too, and the two leaders joined the Vice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Angela Rayner, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, David Lammy.
Vance told journalists before the meeting with Meloni and Von der Leide that Europe is an “important ally of the United States”, while “we have some disagreements, such as friends sometimes, on issues such as commerce.” He added that he was hope that the conversations were “the beginning of some long -term commercial negotiations and some long -term commercial advantages between Europe and the United States.”
Drone bar in Ukraine
Zenskyy’s meetings occurred when Russia launched what Ukraine called her greatest alluvion of drones against Ukraine since the beginning of her large -scale invasion in 2022, after the first direct conversations between Bethalfire and Kyiv.
Russia fired a total of 273 explosive drones and lures aimed at the kyiv regions of Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, said the Ukraine Air Force. Of these, 88 were intercepted and 128 lost, probably electronically stuck.
Ukrainian emergency service through AP 
Yuriy Ihnat, head of the Air Force Communications Department, told The Associated Press that Barge was the biggest drone attack the beginning of Russia’s large -scale invasion.
Previously, the largest individual drone attack in Russia was on the eve of the third anniversary of the war, when Russia hit Ukraine with 267 drones.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said its air defenses knocked down seven Ukrainian drones during the night and another 18 on Sunday morning.
