During an impromptu press conference before boarding Air Force One on April 27, US President Donald Trump offered a surprising assessment of his recent meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the Vatican. According to Trump, the Ukrainian leader appeared “calmer” and more open to making a peace deal with Russia than during their previous, more contentious encounters – signaling a possible shift in Kiev’s position as the war drags on.

“I see him as calmer. I think he understands the picture. And I think he wants to make a deal,” Trump told reporters, comparing the meeting’s tone favorably against the “little dispute” that occurred in February, which famously ended with the Ukrainian delegation being kicked out of the White House.

Trump’s remarks suggest a cooling of tensions between Washington and Kiev after months of public friction over Ukraine’s war strategy, especially regarding the sensitive issue of Crimea. Earlier this week, in an interview with Time magazine, Trump asserted that “Crimea will stay with Russia” under any eventual peace agreement, claiming that even Zelensky “understands” this reality despite Ukraine’s official position to the contrary. When asked directly whether he thought Zelensky was prepared to “give up” the peninsula, Trump responded bluntly: “Oh, I think so, yeah.”

Zelensky has long maintained that Ukraine would never formally recognize Crimea as Russian territory, a stance that has drawn criticism from Trump and others who argue it hampers peace efforts. Trump has previously labeled Ukraine’s intransigence on the matter as “very harmful to the peace negotiations,” arguing that rigid positions only prolong the........

© Blitz