Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took the opportunity while in Rome for Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass to meet with top U.S. officials and European leaders on Sunday ahead of a high-stakes phone call Monday between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy spoke with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Rome. Zelenskyy said on social media he had underscored the need for “real diplomacy” and reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to a “full and unconditional ceasefire.”
“We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange,” he wrote. “Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war.”
It was the first face-to-face meeting between Vance and Zelenskyy since the contentious meeting at the Oval Office in February.
Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Mr. Trump said on Saturday that he plans to speak with Putin on Monday about stopping the “bloodbath” in Ukraine. He will then speak with Zelenskyy and leaders of various NATO countries.
Rubio said “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” in an interview that aired Sunday, he believes the only way that these talks will move forward is if Mr. Trump and Putin meet in person. He said Mr. Trump has publicly offered to meet one-on-one.
“The mechanics of setting that kind of meeting up would require a little bit of work, so I can’t say that’s being planned as we speak in terms of picking a site and a date,” Rubio said. “But the president wants to do it. He wants to do it as soon as feasible.”
When asked if Russia and Ukraine are seeking to talk to “buy time,” Rubio said: “We’ll find out pretty soon.”
“On the one hand, we’re trying to achieve peace and end a very bloody, costly and destructive war. So, there’s some element of patience that is required. On the other hand, we don’t have time to waste. There are a lot of other things happening in the world that we also need to be paying attention to.”
Zelenskyy also met with Pope Leo after the Mass.
Vatican Media/Vatican Pool – Corbis/Getty Images 
“The authority and voice of the Holy See can play an important role in bringing this war to an end,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media.
He thanked the Vatican for its readiness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he spoke to Zelenskyy and Rubio on the sidelines of the pope’s inauguration. Merz said he had agreed with the leaders of France and Britain “that we will speak again with the American president in preparation for this conversation.”
Merz told reporters that “my firm impression is that both the Europeans and the Americans are determined to work together, but now also in a goal-oriented manner, to ensure that this terrible war ends soon.”
Putin spurned Zelenskyy’s offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey after he proposed direct negotiations — although not at the presidential level — as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including the U.S.
The talks in Istanbul broke up after less than two hours, although both sides agreed on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations. Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian television Saturday that the exchange could happen as early as next week.
Vance also met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Sunday. Later in the day, the vice president met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as well, and the two leaders were joined by U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Vance told reporters ahead of the meeting with Meloni and Von der Leyen that Europe is an “important ally of the United States,” while noting that “we have some disagreements, as friends sometimes do, on issues like trade.” He added that he was hopeful the conversations would be “the beginning of some long-term trade negotiations and some long-term trade advantages between both Europe and the United States.”
Drone barrage in Ukraine
Zelenskyy’s meetings came as Russia launched what Ukraine called its largest drone barrage against Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022, after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire Friday.
Russia fired a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys targeting Ukraine’s Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, Ukraine’s air force said. Of those, 88 were intercepted and 128 lost, likely being electronically jammed.
Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP 
Yuriy Ihnat, head of the air force’s communications department, told The Associated Press the barrage was the biggest drone attack since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Previously, Russia’s largest known single drone attack was on the eve of the war’s third anniversary, when Russia pounded Ukraine with 267 drones.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight and another 18 Sunday morning.