Rome, Italy (AFP)— Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly in the hush of St Peter’s basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday in their first encounter since a noisy White House clash, as the US president pushes the Ukrainian leader to make a peace deal with Russia.

Zelensky said they discussed a possible unconditional ceasefire with Russia and was “hoping for results” from a “very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic”.

The war cast a shadow over preparations for Francis’s funeral, and even as it took place, Russia claimed its forces had “fully liberated” the border Kursk region.

Ukraine insisted however that it’s army was still fighting in Kursk, Russian territory which it hopes to use as a bargaining chip in any future peace talks.

The Ukrainian presidency released photos of the Trump and Zelensky sitting face to face, leaning forward in deep discussion in a corner of the basilica, as the pope’s simple wooden coffin lay in front of the altar before the funeral began.

“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” Zelensky wrote on X.

An aide to Zelensky described the meeting as “constructive” and the White House called it “a very productive discussion”.

However, the US president flew out of Rome as scheduled, immediately after the funeral mass and there were no further talks.

But the two leaders also briefly huddled inside the basilica with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, the French president’s hand on Zelensky’s shoulder.

Macron’s office described the exchanges between the four leaders as “positive” and he later met Zelensky one-on-one.

“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” Zelensky wrote on X.

An aide to Zelensky described the meeting as “constructive” and the White House called it “a very productive discussion”.

However, the US president flew out of Rome as scheduled, immediately after the funeral mass and there were no further talks.

But the two leaders also briefly huddled inside the basilica with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, the French president’s hand on Zelensky’s shoulder.

Macron’s office described the exchanges between the four leaders as “positive” and he later met Zelensky one-on-one.