Trump calls latest meeting with Zelenskyy “moment of solace” amid Ukraine crisis

US President Donald Trump described his recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inside St. Peter’s Basilica as a "moment of solace," acknowledging the ongoing devastation in Ukraine.

"The moment was a moment of solace in a sense, because -- tremendous numbers of people are dying. A lot of his people are dying...They're being killed, and I feel very badly about it," the US leader said in an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor Terry Moran on April 29, per Caliber.Az.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy since their heated exchange in the Oval Office in February.  During that meeting, Zelenskyy urged Trump to take a stronger stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating, "I really count on your strong position to stop Putin."

Moran pointed out that Trump had since expressed a shift in his perspective regarding Putin’s intentions, referring to a social media post Trump made following his conversation with Zelenskyy. In that post, Trump criticised Putin for launching missiles into civilian areas and questioned whether the Russian leader truly wanted to end the war.

"There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, in cities and towns, over the last few days," Trump wrote. "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war. He's just tapping me along."

Trump reiterated those comments during the interview, suggesting that it was possible Putin was using him to buy time.

"He could be tapping me along a little bit. I would say that he would like to stop the war," Trump said.

When asked by Moran whether Trump believed Putin genuinely wanted peace despite the ongoing attacks, Trump responded by framing the conflict in the context of his own leadership.

 "You think Vladimir Putin wants peace?" Moran asked.

"I think he does, yes. I think he does," Trump replied, adding that his leadership had prevented Putin from achieving his broader territorial ambitions of invading the whole country.

Moran pressed further, asking if Trump trusted Putin, to which the president answered, "I don’t trust a lot of people. But I do think this. I think that he… let's say he respects me."

By Sabina Mammadli