Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top U.S. officials and European leaders in Rome on Sunday, part of stepped-up diplomatic efforts ahead of a high-stakes phone call Monday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy spoke with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the U.S. ambassador's residence, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had spoken both to Zelenskyy and to Rubio on the sidelines of the new pope's inauguration.
Merz said that he had also agreed with the leaders of France and Britain "that we will speak again with the American president in preparation for this conversation."
"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," Merz told reporters in Rome.
Trump said he plans to speak by phone Monday with Putin, and will then speak to Zelenskyy and leaders of various NATO countries, about ending the war in Ukraine.
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