By Christian Lowe and Andrii Pryimachenko
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has met U.S. President Donald Trump in the Italian capital, where both leaders were attending the funeral of Pope Francis, a spokesman for Zelenskiy said.
No details were provided of the meeting, but it comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump, who has been pressing both sides to agree a ceasefire, said on Friday that there had been productive talks between his envoy and the Russian leadership, and called for a high-level meeting between Kyiv and Moscow to close a deal.
Trump had previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
The meeting in Rome is the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelenskiy since an Oval Office meeting in February that turned into a shouting match.
Following that meeting, the United States cut off intelligence cooperation with Ukraine, which is critical to its efforts to stave off Russian attacks, though this was later restored.
(Reporting by Christian Lowe; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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